Madison Visual and Performing Arts
Department Quarterly Newsletter
S t a c y S n i de r , D i s t ri ct S upe r vi s or of V i s ua l & Pe r f or m i ng Ar t s /W or l d L a ng ua g e s
Mega-Musicpalooza Coming May 16!
The Madison Public
Schools Visual and Performing Arts Department is
excited to announce a
unique and entertaining
experience for all music
students in the district. In
collaboration with Madison
Music & Arts (MMA),
plans are underway for
MEGA-MUSICPALOOZA,
a music and art extravaganza. Please mark your calendars for Saturday, May 16
(rain date May 17) from 12
-4pm for an outdoor concert on the grounds of
Madison High School. Audience members are invited
to bring blankets and picnic on the front lawn of the
high school while enjoying
the show. Every performing
ensemble in the district—
grades 4-12—will be participating. The event will culminate with a final performance piece featuring all
the district student musicians and singers. For this
grand finale, the Madison
Education Foundation has
generously funded a grant
to commission an original
piece of music composed
specifically for this event
and for Madison students.
with donations gratefully
accepted. All monies raised
will benefit the music and
arts programs in the
schools. Parking will occur
on all side streets surrounding Madison High School.
We encourage you to arrive
early to give yourself time
to park and walk to the
venue. If you live close
enough to MHS to walk,
please do so!
In addition to the performances, there will also be
other attractions for guests
to enjoy including food
concessions, face painting,
arts and crafts, music vendors and a variety of other
activities at a nominal fee.
The event itself will be free
of charge to the public,
We feel very strongly about
the opportunity for music
students to hear and see
one another perform. We
hope you will choose to
join us. It is certain to be a
wonderful afternoon of
camaraderie and music
making!
Summer Music and Art Program Now
Accepting Registrations
The Department of Visual
and Performing Arts wishes
to announce the details for
the 2015 Summer Program.
Summer classes will be given at the Madison Junior
School for students entering Grades 4 and up and
younger students entering
Grades 1-3 will attend classes at Central Avenue
School. Classes will run
June 23– July 17 and will
be held between 9:00 a.m.
and 12:30 p.m., MondayFriday. Our program will
once again include beginning instrumental, string
orchestra and band classes,
a variety of guitar classes, as
well as visual art and poetry
and journaling. To register,
and to read more information about the program,
please see the brochure
located on the homepage of
each district school. Questions may be directed to
Kathleen McCormick at
mccormickk@madisonpublicscho
ols.org. Please register by
May 26.
March, 2015
Volume 8, Issue 2
Inside this issue:
MHS Photography
2
MHS Music
2
Les Miserables
2
Elementary Art
3
MJS Art
3
MHS Art
4
MHS Photographers Receive Recognition
This was Madison’s first year participating in the Pingry Photography Exhibit
at the Hostetter Gallery. MHS Art
teacher Mrs. Mary Ann St. Jacques reported that her students were up
against some of the most talented and
serious youth photographers in New
Jersey. In all, 14 schools participated
and 20 awards were given. Madison
sophomore Max Kopenski was among
the winners with his edgy reflective selfportrait. Kopenski was inspired by the
recognition and is out shooting photographs right now with his sights on the
upcoming Blackwell Street Art Show.
MHS photography students had the
opportunity to show off their
hometown in the Chase Gallery at the
Madison Public Library in January &
February. My Madison was a project
designed to inspire students to ask
questions, think critically about their
communities, and communicate their
understandings of home to an authentic audience. Student photographers
had the opportunity to create an updated portrait of America reflecting their
personal visions of home.
Above: Max Kopenski
Below: Jake Fabyanski
Parents and students smiled and reminisced as they viewed the local images
of the iconic clock tower, municipal
buildings, train station, Mc Cools, and
the noteworthy little hidden places that
hold special memories.
MHS Music Accolades
Several MHS Music students have recently received recognition for their
outstanding achievements. Noah
French was named 1st Chair of the
North Jersey Region Band Wind Ensemble. Morgan Sanchez was named
3rd chair 2nd clarinet to the same ensemble. Tyler McKinnon, Elizabeth
Monkemeier and Cole Johnson were all
accepted into the 9th grade Jr. Region
Band. 11th grade cellist Ryan Mak was
selected for North Jersey Region Or-
chestra. The Marching Dodgers, under
the direction of Mr. Russ Batsch, performed in the Morristown St. Patrick’s
Day parade on Marc h14. The MHS
jazz band and jazz chorus performed for
the students at Torey J. Sabatini
School.
tional session with the middle school
students.
The MHS Nonet traveled to MJS to
perform for the 7th & 8th grade orchestra classes. The Nonet students, under
the direction of Mr. Michael Silvestri,
performed and then led an informa-
Les Miserables to be Presented at MHS
Madison High School is proud to present Les Miserables March 26-28. Winner of over 100 international awards
and seen by over 65 million people
worldwide, Les Misérables is an epic
and uplifting story about the survival of
the human spirit. Les Misérables features one of the most memorable scores
of all time and some of the most memorable characters to ever grace the stage.
Starring in the production are Preston
Page 2
Tolbert as "Jean Valjean", Matt Adamo
as "Javert", Jessica Schuszler as
"Eponine", Morgan Sanchez as
"Cosette", Ransom Silliman as
"Marius", Pauline Figarelli as "Madame
Thenardier", Michael Bennett as
"Thenardier" and Grace McCulloch as
"Fantine". The show is directed by Mrs.
Caryn Elefante.
Tickets may be purchased at http://
lesmiserablesmadison.bpt.me
Madison Visual and Performing Arts Department Quarterly Newsletter
Elementary Art
Mrs. Kathy Rodgers has been a welcome addition to the TJS art staff. Her
Torey artists have been busy creating
unusual objects d'art! Highlights include 4C's showcase full of paper mache Nemos, pictured here making a
splash. The Kpm class has been working on "Castles on a
Cloud", watercolor paintings in honor
of the high school's exciting production
of "Les Mis". 2C has presented "Parade
of the Yarn People", a collage of creatures made with yarn woven on a soda
straw loom. In addition, 5F has completed acrylic paintings based on their
knowledge of tints and shades.
February was a good month for art at
the Madison Public Library Chase gallery. The theme of the month long
show was “Seeing Red’. All local artists
and art teachers were invited. Also, for
the first time, children in grades K-12
were also invited to participate in the
exhibit. In addition to Mr. Michael
Watson’s art, there were about 20+
entries selected from Torey J Sabatini
and Kings Road School. The opening
reception saw a big turn out from the
community.
Top: Art from Mrs. Rodgers
class
Above: Romero Britto’s abstract
peacocks and Matisse apples
from Mr. Watson’s classes
Left: Cactus drawings from
Mrs. Linder’s classes at CAS
MJS Artists in Action
In Ms. Kate Gebstaedt’s Drawing and
Painting class, students used pastels to
make “Portraits of a Dog.” They played
with composition conventions, using
cropping and zooms-in to create portraits with a strong point of view. Students in Craft Studio designed animal
pottery – specifically, mugs turned into
dog and cat heads. Their favorite? The
PUG MUG!
Seventh graders animated characters
drawn from their imaginations and
wound up with a group that definitely
Volume 8, Issue 2
looks like “party animals!” In order to
capture the inner turmoil of Van Gogh,
students drew studies of Van Gogh selfportraits. They used watercolor washes
and glazed over the pencil drawings to
mimic the vibrancy of Van Gogh’s
brushstrokes. Master of shading Sara
Massey, an eighth grade student,
demonstrated her skill with pencil in a
current drawing exhibit in the display
case at MJS. Ms. Gebstaedt herself
entered two pieces in a local art show,
“Seeing Red,” at the Madison Public
Library.
Page 3
Stacy Snider, District Supervisor
of Visual & Performing Arts/
World Languages
Phone: 973-593-3117 x8954
Fax: 973-593-3141
E-mail:
sniders@madisonpublicschools.org
The All-City Band and Orchestra concert
will be on March 25th, 7:30 at the Madison Junior School. Please join us!
Visual and Performing Arts Faculty
Russ Batsch
Ariana Ciolino
Kiera Chiarino
Caryn Elefante
James Fryer
Kathleen McCormick
Caitlin Edwards
Kate Gebstaedt
Jaclyn Layman
Jordana Linder
Adriana Marallo
Laurie Quinlan
Kathy Rodgers
Matthew Rossi
Leo Sabatino
Heather Sokolowski
Michael Silvestri
Mary Ann St. Jacques
Michael Watson
Stacy Snider, Supervisor
High School Art
MHS Art student Kathryn DiIonno
was accepted to the University of the
Arts and received a very competitive
scholarship. She was one of only 100
students to receive the “Prestigious
Upcoming Artist Award” from the
University of the Arts. Kathryn was
also voted “Most Artistic” by the
senior class at Madison High School.
March is National Youth Art Month
and student artwork is being displayed in the lobby at MHS to celebrate Arts Education and our young
artists at MHS!
Mrs. Heather Sokolowski and her
advanced Art students are once
again preparing The Teen Art Gallery for April 2nd at the Madison
Community House. Mrs.
Sokolowski and her students also
participated again this year in The
Memory Project, where students in
her class drew portraits of children
in 3rd world countries who then
received the drawings as a gift. This
project was generously funded by a
grant from Madison Music & Arts.
Top: Kathryn DiIonno and one of her portraits
Above: The Memory Project
Left: A portrait by Carrie Klein