Category Archives: Fine arts

HISD elementary students’ poetry, artwork featured in Houston Symphony production

Poetry and artwork created by second grade students from Patterson Elementary School will be featured in the Houston Symphony’s Carnival of the Animals jazz production Saturday at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts.

With guidance from the Houston Symphony, the students wrote poetry based on the movement of each animal featured in the show and their personal interpretation of the music. To complement their poetry, the students also created visual art, which will be on display in the Jones Hall lobby on Saturday and Sunday.

Patterson, a dual language literature magnet school, was selected for the Houston Symphony’s School Residency program, designed to provide music education experiences for second-graders while exploring connections between music and literacy. As part of the program, the school receives two pre-concert classroom visits and one post-concert visit led by the Houston Symphony community-embedded musicians.

The program also is part of the district’s fine arts initiative to ensure students in the Chavez High School feeder pattern have the opportunity to continue learning about art, drama, and music from elementary through high school.

The Carnival of the Animals production is scheduled for 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 18 at Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana St.

 

Grammy Foundation selects HISD student to record album with young musicians

HSPVA senior to perform at Grammy events and attend annual awards ceremony

High School for the Performing and Visual Arts student Alexandria DeWalt’s dream to make music that the world will hear is coming true sooner than she imagined.

DeWalt is among 32 talented high school students from across the country selected by the Grammy Foundation for the 2017 Grammy Camp – Jazz Session where young musicians are provided the opportunity to record an album together, perform for some of music’s biggest names, and attend the Grammy Awards ceremony as guests of The Recording Academy.

The program encourages high school students to pursue professional careers in the music industry and makes them eligible for more than $2 million in college scholarships made possible through the Grammy Foundation’s college partners.

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Student Spotlight: Girls Art Squad creates amazing art project

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“The Breakout” is an enchanted fairy-tale art project, complete with animal sculptures created by a group of J.P. Henderson fifth-graders who call themselves the “Girls Art Squad.” They initiated the project on their own and completed it in their Culture Core class this past semester.

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Waltrip HS band director receives award plus $1,000 grant for school music program 

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Jesse Espinosa

Waltrip High School band director Jesse Espinosa was recently selected as one of 20 inspiring music teachers across the country by Give a Note Foundation and 21st Century Fox as part of their “Music Education Idols” competition.

Students, parents, and community members nominated music educators online by describing how a music teacher inspired them to discover their creative potential. Espinosa was nominated by a student’s parents, who submitted a video testimonial about his influence at the school. Espinosa was later selected as a “Music Ed idol” and will receive a $1,000 grant for the Waltrip music program.

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HISD unveils 2016 holiday greeting cards designed by students

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The Houston Independent School District announced the winners of the district’s 2016 holiday greeting card competition that features creative student artwork highlighting family holiday traditions, seasonal decorations, and classic holiday songs.

The winners – fourth-grader Angela Ramos of Ed White Elementary School, seventh-grader Annette Hernandez of Pilgrim Academy, and 11th-grader Javier Garcia of Scarborough High School – were among 40 finalists from elementary, middle, and high schools. All finalists received a boxed set of their holiday cards. Their holiday cards also will be available for purchase and on display at the HISD administration building. Continue reading →

HISD trustees accept $7.5 million gift for HSPVA

The HISD Board of Education on Thursday accepted a $7.5 million gift from the Kinder Foundation that will pay for construction upgrades and equipment for the new High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

The vote was 7-2, with trustees Manuel Rodríguez Jr., Wanda Adams, Michael Lunceford, Anna Eastman, Rhonda Skillern-Jones, Harvin Moore and Greg Meyers in favor. Trustees Jolanda Jones and Diana Dávila were opposed.

The new campus, which is now under construction in downtown Houston, will be renamed the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in recognition of the gift.

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Lawson Middle School celebrates groundbreaking for new campus

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Nearly 500 students, staff, and school supporters attended a groundbreaking ceremony for Lawson Middle School on Friday to officially mark the start of construction on the new campus and to honor the dedicated educator for whom the school is now renamed.

Lawson is among 40 HISD schools being renovated or rebuilt as part of the 2012 Bond Program. The three-story, $59 million facility will be designed to accommodate up to 1,500 students and showcase their fine arts magnet program.

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HISD teacher writes and performs in original play at Manhattan theater  

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Crystal Rae is known to her second-grade students at Kelso Elementary as Ms. Rae, but to the theater world, she is just Crystal. Her new play, “Lamariya,” is having its world premiere at Jewel Box Theatre, part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York City from July 19 to 24, 2016. She is the first Houstonian to have a play produced there.

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Austin HS band director up for Grammy ‘Music Educator Award’ 

keavon_runnelsAustin High School band director and music teacher Keavon Runnels is a quarterfinalist for the Music Educator Award presented by The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation.

The Music Educator Award was established to recognize current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools.

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Houston Youth Symphony features Davis Mariachi Band during spring concert

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The Davis High School Mariachi Pantera on Sunday was featured in a special guest performance with the Houston Youth Symphony Spring Concert at Rice University’s Stude Hall.

The band, under the direction of Davis High School Orchestra and Mariachi Director Jose Niño, was featured with the string orchestra on its final piece. In the 69-year history of the Houston Youth Symphony, this is the first time that an outside ensemble has collaborated with the symphony on stage.

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