Arts Underground

One of Berwick’s great strengths is its arts culture, and I have always felt that there is both a public and private face of this culture. The public face includes our amazing concerts, our ambitious productions, and the various art shows we produce throughout the year. The private face tends to include things like private lessons, coffeehouses, assembly performances, murals painted on walls, and unexpected artistic expressions that emerge on campus throughout the year.

One of the great traditions I will miss at Berwick will be the annual recital week in April. So many of our students hone their craft on private music lessons throughout the year in the hopes of having a public performance at this time. Simultaneously, we have a week of performances in the theater and in Chip Harding’s coffeehouse lair – the space he likes to refer to as his “smoldering ruins,” referring to the carnage left there after every Middle School electric guitar class. This year, for my second and final time, I had a chance to play a tune with Kenna, my oldest daughter. Just the fact that she would play anything with her dad (we were not the only father/child act that night by the way) amazes me. But what inspires me more is to see how comfortable she has become at a young age performing in front of groups of older people and older students.

I would argue that the self-confidence our students learn through these experiences is invaluable. They are also precious Lower to Upper School moments where we see the sequence of progress in our student body. These recitals are microcosms of life at a PK-12 school. Our younger students, like Kenna, want to one day be able to play like our Upper School students. That kind of modeling is powerful, but it isn’t even possible without a supportive group of private teachers who truly believe that these students, and their music, matters. As I have said before on this blog, it is hard not to move through springtime and consider all of the amazing things I will miss about Berwick Academy. The arts culture of this community will be high on the list for sure.

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Berwick Academy Head of School

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