Scholarship Recipients 2006 Wolf Trap Foundation Scholarship for Performing Arts Teacher Recipients

District of Columbia

Melvin Andrews
Anacostia Senior High School
Area of Expertise: Theater
Playwright and children's theater expert Kelsey E. Collie, a recent retiree from Howard University's School of Fine Arts, will work with 20 students selected from acting, stagecraft, theater organization, public speaking, and art video classes. Professor Collie will guide students in a production titled "Black Images/Black Reflections," a fast paced, spirited play that chronicles the Black experience beginning with the journey of enslavement from Africa to America. The play is designed to build understanding and self-esteem through self-expression. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the Black experience via resources and discussions with the playwright as well as class assignments in preparation for the production. A portion of the class assignments will involve interviewing African Americans over the age of 50 to gain insight into the experience of the civil rights movement. The students will also visit historical landmarks in Washington, DC that marked milestones in the Black journey to today.

Yarbrough Charles Laws II
C.H.O.I.C.E. Academy High School
Area of Expertise: Music
Six classes of instrumental music, grades 9-12, will work with musicians Marc Cary, Ron Sutton Jr., Camille Gainer, Michael Bowie, and Roy Hargrove to produce original compositions. These pieces will be written by students and instructors fusing jazz, popular, hip-hop, and go-go rhythms, harmonies, and influences. Compositions will be transcribed and recorded with audio and video documentation. When the artists leave, students will communicate with them via the Internet and exchange of demonstration CDs. Sectional master classes and rehearsal will take place on Friday, April 1. The first period will be a "Meet and Greet" where the artists will lead a 20-minute discussion critiquing and analyzing different genres of music. Strong emphasis will be placed on perceptive listening and analytical skills. The remainder of the class will consist of a lecture and demonstration concerning the significance of music history as it cross connects with other cultures and all academic subjects. The second period is scheduled for sectional rehearsals with guest artists, and the third period will be used as a rehearsal and sound check for the combined ensemble. The best compositions will be recorded later in the day with guest artists and students. The close work with the prestigious artists chosen to implement this project will take the student's performance to an exceptional level.

Fairfax County

Area of Expertise: Choral Music
The Oakton High School Select Women—an auditioned group of 50 sophomore, junior, and senior young ladies—will work with commissioned artist Daniel Gawthrop, an organist, choral conductor, and composer. Gawthrop will come to Oakton to talk to the entire choral department about the process of composing the original work. The students will be able to interact with Mr. Gawthrop, gaining insight into the composition process. He will then work with Select Women, preparing them for their performance at the final concert on June 8, 2005. They will benefit from working with a new director, learning additional techniques, and observing exactly what the composer is trying to convey through his composition.

Michael Ehrlich
W.T. Woodson High School
Area of Expertise: Choral Music
Philip Silvey, composer and faculty member of the University of Maryland's School of Music, will work with the Select Vocal Ensemble to create a commissioned work. Mr. Silvey will gather input from the students about the text of the piece and their musical interests, incorporating this information into the final work. The composer will spend one rehearsal per month with the students and work on the piece as it progresses. The first performance will be at the State Choral Festival on March 10th in which a panel of three adjudicators will be present. The second performance will take place on May 25th at the Spring Concert in which all five choral ensembles will combine with the Select Vocal Ensemble to sing the piece.

Montgomery County

Johnathan Dunn
Sherwood High School
Area of Expertise: Secondary Choral Music
The Chamber Singers, Freshmen Chorus, Jazz Choir, Show Choir, Umojo Ensemble, and the Vocal Ensemble at Sherwood High School will work with two different guest artist groups. First, Bernice Johnson Reagon and her daughter Toshi Reagon, members of Sweet Honey in the Rock, will work with students on a performance that will consist of traditional Negro spirituals. These songs of unity, hope, tolerance, and acceptance all happen to be major components of the repertoire performed by Sweet Honey in the Rock. Second, the Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet will hold Master Classes, which will focus on the key components of vocal jazz. These classes will lead to a final performance accompanied by the jazz quartet that allows the students to pull together all that they learned through their studies.

Sandra Perez
James Hubert Blake High School
Area of Expertise: Dance
Lucy Bowen-McCauley, director of Bowen-McCauley Dance, will serve as the artist-in-residence at Blake High School for the 2004-2005 school year. Lucy will begin work with the Blake Student Dance Company on a series of choreographic studies. The students will continue to workshop these studies, which will ultimately become a part of a larger 7-8 minute piece to be performed in excerpts at a Dance Gala at Blake High School in December. After its completion in early January, the piece will be rehearsed and performed in its entirety in April in a joint concert with Bowen-McCauley Dance and other youth groups for which Lucy has choreographed. The piece will be auditioned for the Regional High School Dance Festival held in March at Goucher College. The final showing of the dance will be at the annual Spring Dance Concert in May at Blake High School.

Prince George's County

Julie Garner
Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Area of Expertise: Drama
Bill Gillett, from Olney Theatre Center, will coach students in a series of Master Classes that will explore various aspects of the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. The National Players/Olney Theatre Center is currently touring with The Oedipus Cycle. Following their performance, Roosevelt students will use their edited script and perform the play themselves. As the proposed project focuses on the text and performance of this play, Mr. Gillett's Master Classes will emphasize history, production aspects, and technique to give students a full picture. This project would serve the two upper-level drama classes, which consist of 61 students. Students will benefit from the expertise of theater professionals currently working on Greek theater projects.

Walter Harley
Oxon Hill High School
Area of Expertise: Band Music
Earl Jackson, Frank Williams, and Scott Shelsta will work with three band classes from Oxon Hill High School, leading them in a series of Master Classes for small ensembles. Many students in this program have never experienced a private lesson before, and this intimate instruction will give them a better understanding of the performing arts. The guest artists will not only be able to instruct students in their technique, but they will also provide them with insight on what it takes to be a professional musician. They will stress the importance of self-discipline, encouragement, and motivation in reaching the goal of becoming successful in both music and life. They hope to inspire these students to pursue a future in music education or performance. These Master Classes will culminate in an evening chamber music performance. The students will also create their own program notes about the music, composer, and other related information.

This program is made possible through a generous grant from the Catherine Filene Shouse Education Fund.