Out-of-Door Showcases Student-Artists through Multiple Virtual Events

When it was decided that the annual Arts Day celebration would not be able to be held in person, the arts department decided to move their yearly showcase to a virtual platform. Each discipline within the department—music, chorus, visual arts, communication arts, and theater—put together video compilations of the amazing work their students created during the course of the year. These videos included orchestra, band, jazz band, and chorus performances in the fall and early winter in the Black Box Theater and at Woodland Community Church, as well as the debut of many new performances from talented chorus and theater students.

Visual arts pieces were shared with the music of Upper School students playing softly in the background, a perfect compliment to showing the depth of creativity of our students. There were many standouts, among them seniors who are pursuing careers in the arts: Yuchen Kong, who will attend Savannah College of Art and Design majoring in Interior Design; Paige Crittenden, headed to University of Southern California for Architecture; and Lucy LaCivita, attending Auburn University for Interior Design.

Mr. Dane Gass’s communications students’ projects wowed the viewers with the freshness and originality of their work. One work in particular—the stop-motion work of Naomi Jones ‘24, in a PSA-style short film about the current concerns plaquing people during the COVID-19 pandemic—relayed her message poignantly and with great maturity.

Orchestra, band, and jazz band performances were woven together to show a progression of their skills during the year. Senior Jim Cai’s saxophone stylings and beatboxing skills and junior Arthur Wang’s violin solos were just two of the many highlights. The “Movie Matinee” performance was a fantastic showcase of talent for all of the music disciplines, together with the full chorus and dance club.

Two videos of brand new content also debuted during the online arts celebration. Ms. Thayer Greenberg’s theater students premiered their production of “The Addams Family,” a hilarious musical comedy they were unable to perform in front of a live audience due to the pandemic quarantine. Ms. Denise Hoff’s chorus and ukulele students recorded new material as well, which, interspersed with footage from concerts performed earlier in the year, showed the range and talent of her singers including Gavin Gargano ‘24, Svetlana Maury Kondratovich ‘23, and Victor Marcano-Santos ‘20.

Thunderpalooza was also held as a virtual experience this year. For the 14th year, Thunderpalooza has allowed student-artists to exhibit their talents in front of peers. This year’s event featured performances by Middle and Upper School students, along with special appearances by alumni and faculty. From vocals and piano to violin and a 2-dimensional art creation, this year’s Thunderpalooza showed the breadth of talent at ODA. Watch it at oda.edu/Thunderpalooza.

We would like to thank the dedicated faculty members whose efforts to showcase their students’ work resulted in this wonderful compilation of talent. We congratulate all of our arts students and look forward to watching their skill continue to grow in the years to come.