Congratulations, Aeneas Strozier!

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Aeneas Strozier, a junior at the Hamilton/Wenham Regional High School, is this year's double bass player in the Massachusetts All-State Ensemble.

The All-State Ensemble is made up of the finest musicians in the Commonwealth as determined by audition. Not only did Aeneas get accepted, but as there is only one bass player in the ensemble (as opposed to 10 trumpets accepted), it's a demonstrable fact that Aeneas is the best jazz bassist in the entire state. FOTA was happy to provide a mini-grant to cover the fees for his participation.

Aeneas makes the school proud, and we wish him great success and wonderful memories as he takes part in this year's All-State Jazz Band.

Nice to meet you

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It's hard to believe we are at the halfway point in our school year! It's been so rewarding to see our students fully participating in the arts in person once again.

It's our pleasure to connect with all of you and share updates from our arts departments. This fall, the high school welcomed Andrew Lease as the new Theater Teacher and Auditorium Manager. Mr. Lease is hard at work, updating and revamping the Ferrini Dramatics Center. He oversees about 10 different spaces/nooks and closets around the school that are dedicated specifically to the theatre. This includes everything from going through each item in the different rooms and then re-imagining the spaces to best serve the students and community. For example, he moved 100's of books and boxes that were on bookshelves stage left and then re-imagined the space to include the history of the program, props, and make-up tables for his tech theatre classes (pictured below).

He is also working with the administration on revamping the lighting system in the space and hopes to make headway with this for the fall of 2022. More updates to come, especially on how parents, alumni, and volunteers can join the efforts to revitalize the space or even get involved with other aspects of the HWRHS theatre program (community involvement and integration is one of Mr. Lease's passions).
To keep up to date on all things HWRHS theater check out:

HWRHS Theater Website

HWRHS Theater Twitter

For more FOTA updates, see our latest newsletter here.

The arts are back!

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We missed you! It’s been so wonderful to see our students perform once again. Congratulations to our middle and high school band and chorus on their fantastic winter concerts! Thanks to the A/V team and HWCAM, both concerts can be viewed online.

  • High school concert can be viewed here.

  • Middle school concert can be viewed here.

We love supporting the arts in our district. Read more about what we’ve been up to in our latest newsletter!

25th Annual Melody Miles Fundraiser May 26 - 31, 2021

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Welcome the 25th Annual Melody Miles fundraiser! This year the Hamilton-Wenham Friends of the Arts is taking our race virtual, allowing you six days in May to run, walk, or dance your way through any 5k or 5mi route in your neighborhood (or on your treadmill). Invite your friends, bring the dog, or push the kids in the stroller. We have always been about fun, family, and music, and hope this year will still be the same. In order to keep you inspired during your race, we are putting together a playlist of all the singers and musicians you have come to love and enjoy during our live race. We will release this playlist on YouTube the first official day of the race for you to enjoy. Additionally, the first 100 registrants will get our coveted Melody Miles t-shirts, and we encourage everyone to wear them the day they do their race*. Show your support for the arts in our schools and join us for Melody Miles!

#HWFOTA #25MM #RunfortheArts

*We will offer a local t-shirt pick-up option for those within 30 minutes of Hamilton/Wenham. For those outside this area, we will ship you your t-shirt.

Register Here