Music Fills Lower and Upper Schools on Tuesday

Ranney School filled children, parents, faculty and friends with holiday spirit at several division events Tuesday, December 14, 2010. The day began with a Lower School holiday reading led by Head of School, Dr. Lawrence Sykoff, and his wife, Joyce, in RSPA Panther Hall, and ended with an Upper School Winter Jazz Concert hosted by Ranney’s Tri-M® Music Honor Society in the Commons.

During two holiday reading sessions, Dr. and Mrs. Sykoff read children’s stories, and sang, danced and ate cookies with Pre-Kindergarten students and Beginners at Ranney. While Pre-Kindergarteners heard “Stick Man” by Julia Donaldson and “The Mitten Tree” written by Candace Christiansen, Beginners listened to “The Mitten” by author Jan Brett.

Afterwards, Mrs. Sykoff took to the piano, while Dr. Sykoff led the children in song and dance to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” This was followed by “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Jingle Bells,” again played by Mrs. Sykoff on the piano, but this time accompanied by Lower School students and parents using handheld jingle bells. The Sykoffs then shared in cookies and milk with all those in attendance.

As many students packed their book bags and headed for home, members of the Tri-M® Music Honor Society, Upper School Chorus and Upper School Jazz Band headed to the Commons in preparation of their Winter Jazz Concert. The event took place in an intimate concert setting in which audience members sat at round tables covered in holiday décor. While Tri-M® members Hannah Simpson ’12 and Evelyn Giovine ’12, along with Tri-M® President Lauren Resnikoff ’11, served as announcers during the show, Performing Arts teacher, Kevin Cotter and Department Chair of Performing Arts at Ranney School, Tess Nielsen conducted young musicians throughout the evening.

An awestruck audience containing parents, faculty and friends enjoyed the vocals to such holiday songs as “Happiness,” “Run Run Rudolph” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside” to name a few. Meanwhile, the Upper School Jazz Band performed songs like “Feliz Navidad” and “Christmastime is Here.” The night also featured a solo performance of “Linus and Lucy” by eighth grader Erik Bovino on the piano, and a soprano performance by Christa Delmazio ’12, accompanied by Mrs. Nielsen, who sang “O Joyful Children.”

With students and faculty members breaking for winter beginning next Monday, both events truly embraced the meaning of community and evoked a holiday spirit to be shared with all. Congratulations to all for a fine performance at the Tri-M® Music Honor Society’s Winter Jazz Concert. The following students took part in the event:

Upper School Jazz Band

Saxophone/Reeds

Val Kharkover ’12

Paul Sondhi ’13

Sam Tkach ’12

Trumpet

Ethan Daniels ’14

Conor Keenan ’13

Grant Parker ’14

Jonathan Rosenthal ’12

Trombone

Alex Rafiqi ’13

Christopher Schwake ’12

Ronald Geraghty ’14

Guitar

Matthew Callahan ’13

Luciano Cioffi ’13

Joseph DiSalvo ’11

Thomas Florek ’11

Ben Puvalowski ’13

Granger Whitelaw ’14

Bass

Brandon Flynn ’14

Michael Morrongiello ’11

Piano

Eric Chiang ’12

Steven Jacobson ’14

Tor Miller ’12

James Samson ’14

Drumset/Percussion

Calvin Celebuski ’13

Evan Glazman ’12

Upper School Chorus

Soprano I

Christa Dalmazio ’12

Elinor Haney ’14

Megan Sherow ’13

Hannah Simpson ’12

Soprano II

Alexandra DeMarco ’12

Lauren Resnikoff ’11

Helly Kharkover ’12

Lauren Waters ’11

Alto

Jood Ani ’12

Leah Chaise ’13

Sarah Bartosh ’12

Rachel Burstiner ’13

Kaitlyn Gill ’14

Evelyn Giovine ’12

Sabrina Palazzolo ’14

Accompanists

Neil Chatterjee ’13 (piano, baritone)

Noah Goldstein ’14 (guitar, bass)

Tor Miller ’12 (piano, tenor)

Jr. Tri-M Music Honor Society

Erik Bovino ’15