Our Mission
The Spaulding HS Department of Music & Performing Arts exists for the benefit of any and all students seeking an education in, and creative outlet through, musical and theatrical performance; the study of music in its many forms; the exploration of theatrical performance and production techniques; and the development of techniques related to various audio/visual fields. Instructors and directors guide students through the process of acquiring skills, knowledge, and resources; provide students the social advantages of learning within a team, or ensemble environment; help expose students to a variety of cultural and aesthetic experiences; maintain a bridge between students and community through public performance and exhibition; and encourage students to engage in personal growth through involvement in the arts.
SHOUT-OUTS!!
Spaulding Music is incredibly grateful for the many community partnerships we have forged over the years, and also to the countless number of volunteers who selflessly give their time, money, skills, and other resources! We'll be constantly adding our thanks here. Please be sure to acknowledge their efforts when you see them, and to patronize their businesses as a further show of gratitude!
COMMUNITY & CORPORATE SPONSORS
Jim Bruneau and Middleton Building Supply of Dover have been long-time supporters of our program and most recently helped supply us with all the materials needed for our marching band halftime show, our annual holiday village, and our production of Disney's Descendants. We can thank them enough for their commitment to the arts!
A huge thank you to our friends at Potter's House for helping us cover dry cleaning costs for our marching band uniforms as well as for placing a donation jar on their counter to help launch our activities for the 2021-22 school year!
In addition to generously providing their facilities for our Annual Mattress Sale, Rochester Recreation has regularly played host to our Music in Our Schools Month concert as well as our annual Holiday Village for countless years. Thank you for being such ardent supporters of the Arts in Rochester!
Our enduring thanks to everyone affiliated with the Rochester Opera House for opening their facility to us following damage to our stage this past February. Thanks to their generosity, our performance of Disney's Descendants once again has a home!
PARENT & COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS
Tom Auger
Dan Bourgeois
Jim Bruneau
Jenna & Jason Buinicky
Sara & Derrick Cantrell
Katy Dorfman
Bill & Becky Harris
Melena Lugo
David McLaughlin
Brian & Michelle Nicholson
Matt & Beth Pappas
Sarah Russell
David & Minda Sevey
... and the list continues to grow everyday!!
ALUMNI & STAFF VOLUNTEERS
Katie Cabaup
Ally Files
Liz Hobbs
Jake Nicholson
Frances Shannon
Myles Sylvester
J.J. Verbicky
CORE STAFF
Ramsay Dean - Colorguard
Patrice Maliski - Colorguard
Craig Stevens - Percussion
WELCOME!
New to the Department? Click on the presentation to the right for a sampling of just some of what we've been known to do! We've got something for just about everyone from Band and Chorus to Beginning Piano and Guitar, Music Theory, Video and Audio Production/Technology, and much, much more! We even travel!
Students may choose to participate in:
Ensemble-based Classes:
Concert, Marching & Jazz Bands
Chorus & Select Choir
Handbells
Experiential Lab Classes:
Collaborative Drumming
Drumming Lab
Guitar Lab
Instrumental Music Lab
Piano Lab
Vocal Lab
Stage & Screen Classes:
Audio Recording Technology
Lighting for Stage & Screen
Stagecraft
Theatre
Video Production
Appreciation Courses:
History of American Popular Music
The World of Music
Any Music or Performing Arts course will fulfill the State of New Hampshire graduation requirement for 1/2 credit in fine arts.
ARTS EDUCATION ADVOCACY STATEMENT
Arts Education is Essential
It is imperative that all students have access to an equitable delivery of arts education that includes dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts that supports their educational, social, and emotional wellbeing, taught by certified professional arts educators in partnership with community arts providers.
Teaching and learning will never quite be the same in our post-COVID-19 world. However, our commitment to provide rich and varied educational experiences remains unwavering. The arts have played an important role in these tumultuous times and will continue to do so for all students, including the traditionally underrepresented, those with special needs, and from low- income families. Here’s why:
Arts education supports the social and emotional well-being of students, whether through distance learning or in person. Self-awareness, self-efficacy, self-management and perseverance, social awareness and relationship skills are central to any arts education activity, no matter the age and ability of the student or the environment in which the learning takes place. The arts, with their strong emphasis on team building and self-reflection are supremely suited to re-ignite students’ interest in learning through collaboration, while simultaneously fostering creativity, critical thinking, and communication.
Arts education nurtures the creation of a welcoming school environment where students can express themselves in a safe and positive way. Celebrating our ability to come together as educators and students is vital to creating a healthy and inclusive school community. The arts, through a rich partnership among certified arts educators, teaching artists, and community arts providers, play a valuable role in helping students and their families build and sustain community and cultural connections.
Arts education is part of a well-rounded education for all students as understood and supported by federal and state policymakers. As defined in ESSA, “music and the arts” are part of a well-rounded education. Every state in the nation recognizes the importance of the arts as reflected in rigorous PreK-12 state arts standards. Forty-six states require an arts credit to receive a high school diploma and 43 states have instructional requirements in the arts for elementary and secondary schools. As noted in Arts Education for America’s Students: A Shared Endeavor: “An education without the arts is inadequate.”
The healing and unifying power of the arts has been evident as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country. We have seen and heard it play out through works of art on sidewalks, shared musical moments from porches, in plays and dance performances, and every other imaginable iteration of art making. As states and schools work through multiple challenges in the years ahead, arts education must remain central to a well-rounded education and fully funded to support the wellbeing of all students and the entire school community.
LARGE ENSEMBLE ADVOCACY STATEMENT
For as long as there have been people, there has been music. Music makes us more human and making music together makes us better people. Music making with others teaches empathy, acceptance, and understanding. Music making is essential to the human experience.
Large ensembles are a place for innovation, for creation of new music, for support of living composers, for artistic expression, for pushing boundaries, for exploring new technologies, for exploring and understanding diverse populations, for aesthetic experience, and for the exploration of creativity with others. Large ensembles create a pathway for students to contribute to something larger than themselves as both individual artists and members of society.
Within schools and departments of music, large ensembles act as building blocks of a community, providing experiences for individuals to develop interpersonal skills through elements of musicianship and human connection. In addition to artistic and communal fellowship, large ensembles serve in recruitment of majors and non-majors, generate credit hours, and actively engage with the community in a variety of ways, including annual graduation activities, outreach concerts to middle/high schools, touring, and recording.
CBDNA believes that the communal large ensemble experience is invaluable and irreplaceable.