An Arts Season Like No Other

Our new Academic and Performing Arts Center is set to be ready in the fall of 2024! While construction was still underway, the arts department continued to find creative ways to wow audiences by hosting performances in Heath Commons, Thompson Hall, and at the off-campus Woodbridge Club.

Drama 

The Drama Department’s spring season began strong with the Hopkins Drama Association’s (HDA) musical production of Oklahoma! from Thursday, February 29, through Monday, March 4 at the Woodbridge Club. Directed by Hope Hartup, the student performers filled the stage with frontier spirit and powerhouse performances through dynamic musical numbers. The spring production of The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by Mike Calderone, wrapped up the HDA’s spring season on a high note. From Thursday, April 25 through Saturday, April 27 the cast delivered Oscar Wilde’s saucy Victorian humor with incredible wit and timing. Lastly, a large Junior School cast presented The Alibis, a whodunit comedy written by eight playwrights. Directed by Mike Calderone, the hit performance ran between May 10 and 11. 

A testament to our drama program’s strength and talent, the HDA earned three HALO awards for Oklahoma! and one for The Importance of Being Earnest!

Asher Joseph '25 and Ripley Chance '26 each received the "Last Minute Hero Award" for stepping in during the production of Oklahoma! to cover a role for an ailing classmate; Silas Webb '24 received Best Actor in a Classical Play for the role of John Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest; and Zachary Haywood '24 received Best Actor in a Classical Musical for the role of Curly in Oklahoma!.

In total, the HDA productions of Oklahoma! and The Importance of Being Earnest were nominated for 14 awards.

Bravo to the HDA, Hope Hartup, and Mike Calderone for yet another exceptional year of theater performances, both on and off campus!

The Hopkins Arts Department continued to showcase the talent, ingenuity, and creativity of its community in the Keator Gallery during the winter-spring seasons.

To celebrate Black History Month, an African Americans and the Arts Exhibit debuted with a reception on January 30. Attendees engaged in discussions and interacted with the artists, gaining deeper insights into the inspirations behind their works. The exhibition highlighted the significant contributions Black Americans have made to various forms of artistic expression, such as visual art, music, and film. The showcase included pieces from both Hopkins students and distinguished local Black artists, including Kwadwo Adae, Moshopefoluwa "Mo" Olagunju, Jasmine Nikole, Faustin Adeniran, Christina "Chris" Jones, and Marquis Brantley.

Later in the semester, Derek Byron’s Studio Art III students showcased their work in a beautiful pop-up art show in the Keator Gallery from April 23 to 26. Their work featured a range of mediums, including fabric and costuming, drawings, paintings, and ceramics. In addition, there were many pop-up shows in the Keator throughout the spring semester, such as the Digital Photography class’s 'Pho Sho' and Term II art students’ artwork for their term.

In addition to the student showcases, the Visual Art class took a field trip to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams, MA, and The Clark Institute in Williamstown, MA. Through works by Renoir, Monet, Sargent, and other renowned artists, students gained a deeper understanding of how art can inspire, challenge, and transform us.

The last half of the 2023-2024 school year featured an outstanding lineup of performances from the music program. Thanks to music directors Robert Smith, Erika Schroth, and Erik Elligers, Hopkins musicians presented two evenings of incredible performances at their spring concerts. On Thursday, May 2, Upper Heath was filled with attendees and music from the Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab, Jazz Combo, 7th Grade Music Ensemble, and the Concert Band. And on Friday, May 3, the Concert Choir, 7th and 8th Grade Choruses, Jazz Choir, and the Hopkins Orchestra performed a breathtaking performance in the iconic Battell Chapel in downtown New Haven. 

Later this summer in June, The Hopkins Choir enjoyed a tour of Vienna and Prague! Twenty-eight students, four chaperones, and one tour guide experienced the incredible beauty and history of the cities. The group gave several phenomenal performances, including at St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Schubertkirche in Vienna, a “beautiful acoustic space” in Jindrichuv Hradec in the Czech Republic, and finally, in Old Prague, singing with an excellent youth choir, Svitani. Regarding the transformative trip, choir director Erika Schroth said, “We are so grateful to Hopkins for supporting this trip— the students grew so much musically and forged unforgettable bonds with each other and with the cities we visited.”