The WHS arts department wraps up a successful season

The arts department of WHS, consisting of a band, orchestra, choir, and theater program, as well as a plethora of visual arts classes, has been successful in all areas this season. Throughout the quarter, there have been choir, band, and orchestra concerts, opportunities for the visual arts to grow their reach, and a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream put on by the theater department.

The play, referred to by many simply as Midsummer, was on the week of March 1st, and had five shows in total. The cast and crew worked hard to put on the production, and it paid off. Students and staff, along with their families and members of the community came to see the WHS drama students perform. Many cast members agreed that while the Shakespearean language was a challenge, Midsummer was one of their favorite shows they’ve done. Senior Ainsley Mayes said, “Shakespeare takes a lot of work to dissect, and I’m really proud of the cast for being able to bring a challenging show to life.”

From a crew standpoint, stage manager Andrew Murphy shared some of his reasons why this was a unique experience. “Midsummer especially had really interesting lights that helped to set the scene and emphasize the emotions and actions of the characters,” he said. After struggling through the pandemic, the theater department has come back strong, first with Once Upon a Mattress and now with A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The music department has had three concerts this past week– choir, orchestra, and band. The choir concert was in combination with choirs from the two middle schools in our district, IWMS and MCMS, and all the students had opportunities to perform. The band concert was not in the middle schools, but still drew a crowd, as parents and friends of the band members wanted to see their hard work pay off. 

The orchestra concert was a success as well, and also included the middle schools. Students of all grades performed together, and were able to showcase their hard work. WHS junior Mia Combs said that “it was a great way to bring everybody together, both people who are just beginning and people who have played for a long time.”

All three concerts offered the students an opportunity to showcase their skills, and perform pieces they have been practicing for a while. Now that this week of performances is over, their attention is turned to next quarter, and their final concerts of the school year.

For the visual arts students, this is for many of them their first quarter of their classes. Most art classes are only a semester, and are almost halfway through. Students have been using these classes to hone their skills, though their final projects are yet to come. Freshman Alex Aguiar said about his photography class, “I’ve been enjoying being able to do work around the school and learn about different elements of taking high quality images.”

All of the WHS arts have been doing their best in what they love, and will continue to do so throughout the end of the school year. As well as the final upcoming concerts, the drama club is already working towards their next production, Spark, and clubs like the art club and NAHS are always finding ways to involve students, especially in showcasing their work. It has been a great season for all of the arts.