Performing Arts Faculty Stay Busy Over Summer

This article was originally published in the fall 2014 Harker Quarterly.

Middle school drama teacher Monica Colletti traveled to New York City to spend a week training in improvisation with the famous Upright Citizens Brigade comedy troupe. The session concluded with a public performance in New York, which Colletti was more than happy to brag about!

Big things happened for middle school dance teacher Rachelle Haun, who performed at San Francisco’s Mission in the Mix with the Gems Dance Team, and also successfully auditioned for the Raiderettes!

Laura Lang-Ree, performing arts department chair, was busy on vocal duties with the Los Gatos-Saratoga Big Band, which performed at numerous venues over the summer. Her performance at the San Jose Jazz Festival landed her on the front page of the local section of the San Jose Mercury News. She also joined the roster at Halvorson Model Management, signing with the agency in their commercial and voice-over division.

In addition to starring in Harker’s “Happy” video, upper school dance teacher Karl Kuehn worked with San Jose’s Atlas School of Dance as both a choreographer and performer. He also helped out the Bay Area-based Ragazzi Boys Chorus, teaching movement classes and choreography in preparation for the chorus’ performances in South Africa in 2015.

Middle school music teacher Dave Hart was commissioned by Bay Area woodwind group Frequency 49 for his compositional talents. He also lent his expertise to the International Society of Music Educators composition competition, which judges pieces by students in grades 6-12. At the Stanford Jazz Workshop, he taught and performed “with a fantastic international jazz faculty.” He also performed with acclaimed pianist and singer Dena DeRose and longtime friend Taylor Eigsti, in addition to instructing the Stanford Jazz Mentors, a group of college students seeking to sharpen their skills as jazz educators.

At the Feierabend Association for Music Education (FAME) conference in Hartford, Conn., lower school music teacher Carena Montany learned a great deal by attending sessions and exchanging insights with other music teachers. Founded on the teachings of John Feierabend, a leading figure in the teaching of music and movement, FAME is an organization that seeks to spread his teachings to music educators.