 | The visual and performing arts stand front and center as a vital part of a Worcester Academy education. You see it in the student drawings that line the walls of Walker Gallery. You hear it in the voices flowing out of music rooms and Warner Theater. And you feel it watching an acting class tackle a challenging scene. Respect for the arts and the creative process is embedded in our curriculum.
Everyone is required to earn credits in the visual and performing arts, and Worcester Academy students embrace that requirement with gusto. With 42 different arts offerings, the curriculum provides you with every opportunity to indulge your passion for art, theatre, and music or discover a new form of expression. Onstage, in the studio, or maybe just in the shower, Worcester Academy students are inspired to express themselves and nurture their creative spirit and talents. Students are strongly encouraged to enrich their academic experience through coursework in the arts. Most students pursue more than the minimum number of credits, and many earn more than four arts credits during their high school careers.
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| | Worcester Academy students make a lot of music. They sing it. Play it. Revel in it. For every voice, age, and instrument, there is a place at Worcester Academy. Students may audition for the Jazz Ensemble or Academy Singers, and study voice and AP Music Theory. The Instrumental Music Studies program helps beginner and virtuoso alike, and our musicians' talents know no bounds: cello, drums, even mandolin. And they share those talents in a variety of settings, from our orchestra to smaller ensembles.
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If you've always wanted to be heard, Worcester Academy has the perfect stage from which to raise your voice. Drama, comedy, musicals, classical or cutting edge, our theatre program's mission is to inspire passion and respect for theatre as an art form.
In Middle School Theatre Arts, students take classes in acting and play production, creative dramatics, puppetry and mask. Middle School students take to the stage and perform in an annual fall play. Each year students may also participate in either the all-school Musical or a Middle School musical production as well.
At the Upper School level, each year students perform plays in the fall and winter, and a spirited school musical in the spring. Serious theatre students can hone their craft with advanced classes in acting, directing, and costume design. Students also learn from the professionals by attending productions by top regional theatre companies.
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Light streams into the spacious main art room in Walker Hall, creating the perfect backdrop for the visual artists at work. There are painters exploring 80 shades of blue, potters coaxing a mound of clay, and photographers pushing the boundaries of digital art. If you've got a picture in your mind, you can bring it to life at Worcester Academy. Our vibrant studio art program offers a range of classes from beginner to advanced, pastels to pixels. You can sculpt, paint, draw, scan; whatever your inspiration, we've got the medium through which to express it.
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Extracurricular Arts Programs The Academy Singers are selected from members of the choral classes. The Academy Singers perform an eclectic mix of vocal music suitable to a small ensemble, from Renaissance to modern. In addition to school performances, they often reach out to the community. Like the Advanced Chorus, the Academy Singers regularly participate in choral festivals and have always earned excellent or superior ratings.
Jazz Combo is a small performance based jazz group (6 - 10 members/ rhythm section and up to 5 horns) by audition. Repertoire is based upon stylistic and historical perspectives in Jazz, with attention drawn to the innovative artists of those periods. All arrangements are original and many times created by the group during rehearsals. The combo performs at the Academy and in the community throughout the school year.
Jazz Lab is a performance based training program for beginning to intermediate players who are interested and wish to explore jazz.
The Hillpoppas are a student directed "collegiate" a cappella ensemble. Most of their arrangements are created by the members. The Hillpoppas fill an important spot in the choral music program, offering students opportunities as leaders and composer/arrangers working in contemporary styles.
A full musical theater production is mounted by the upper school each year. Recent productions include The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2011), Seussical (2010), Anything Goes (2009), Into the Woods (2008).
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