Norwell High School Music Department

Having had a couple of days to digest the Small Ensemble Night experience, I just wanted to take a moment to again thank everybody who helped make it happen this year, from the students to the faculty, staff and administration at NHS and the always-supportive parents and audience members.

I often tell people that Small Ensemble Night is probably the most stressful performance of the year for me as an organizer and teacher, but I really do find that the rewards for the students are worth far more than the time and energy that I end up putting in each year.  The students probably grow more and become more of a family in the weeks leading up to Small Ensemble Night than they do at any other time in the year.  I was pleased to note that when we came back together to rehearse again as a large ensemble on Friday for the first time in what seemed like forever, the group as a whole simply sounded more mature than it did before the Small Ensemble preparation arc began.

Thanks again to everyone involved, and let’s try to build on this and make the next one even better.  Congratulations to all of the performers for a fine evening!

-J. O’Briant

I’m pleased to report that every instrumentalist who auditioned from Norwell High School made it into their respective SEMSBA honor ensembles!  Big congratulations to Myles Blakeslee, Lauren Connaughton, Maggie Hynes, Robbie Hynes, Connor MacDonald and Stephanie Sousa, and congratulations as well go out to all of the students who auditioned from both NHS and NMS.  The amount of effort and love you show for music is an inspiration to all of us!

-J. O’Briant

1) Congratulations to NHS Chorus member Haley DeMarco for making us all proud and winning the 2008 Norwell Idol contest!

2) Congratulations as well go to the six NHS Music Department students who placed in the 2008 NHS Science Fair. Music students placed 1st, 2nd and 5th overall (Chandler Anthony, Corbin Foucart and Morgan Gallagher, respectively), and three more musicians (Lily Cyr, Matt Kwasnik and Trent Taylor) also received Honorable Mention prizes. Good work, everybody!

We’d like to invite you to NHS’ Small Ensemble Night 2008 on Wednesday, February 13th at 7pm here at the high school.  This year’s program features a number of strong student ensembles and has the distinction of being largely student-run.  The students conduct their own rehearsals and compose their own program notes.  Mrs. Cortright and I are just there to keep them on track and give suggestions when asked!  It’s an exciting event, and we hope to see you there!

-J. O’Briant