What makes Williston’s arts program vibrant? The students who are passionate about their work! These students were honored at a recent assembly with a Williston Working Artist Award for their dedication to dance, theater, sculpture, and chorus.
Ainsley Holman ’18, being new to the dance program this year as a senior, has made tremendous contributions to the Williston Dance Ensemble performances, as well as the Williston Dance Program itself by demonstrating excellence in technique, teaching ability, choreography, leadership and an overall positive attitude. She came to us too late to be considered for Dance-Captain status, but she is definitely a group leader and respected by all. She certainly deserves to be recognized with our Williston Working Artist Award in dance!
A veteran of the choral program, Caroline Channel ’18, never misses an opportunity to continue her growth as a singer and performer. Whether it is as Rapunzel in the musical Into the Woods, a soloist in our choral concerts, or an extremely curious chorister in rehearsal, she always comes prepared to not only sing, but to ask pertinent questions regarding the music. Her voice continues to grow in size and beauty, and she’s at the top of the choral groups when it comes to musicianship and sight-reading. She continues to raise the bar as a student singer, and is deserving of this honor for her work and success.
While this is the first mainstage play for Robby Hill ’19, he has handled himself like a pro at every rehearsal for Into the Woods. One of the first actors to be confidently off-book, Robby focused his attention on deepening his character work. Cast as both The Narrator and The Mysterious Man (a choice made by the creators of Into the Woods), Robby defined unique traits for both and adds necessary humor and heart to the story. Like a true theatre person, Robby never rests with what he’s done in the past but pushes himself to make new discoveries at each rehearsal.
Caleb Stern ’19 has shown amazing determination and commitment to the spring musical, Into the Woods. Playing Jack is no easy feat yet with hard work and lots of creativity, Caleb’s performance is tremendous. Beyond bringing his own role to life, Caleb has been a huge support for the rest of the cast by offering to help run lines and review songs. He recognizes that theater is inherently collaborative and comes in ready to lift up the rest of the cast and crew at every rehearsal.
Ken Wang ’20 showed creativity and resilience in Sculpture by working through three gnome prototypes before finally settling on an award-winning design. Seeing as he was recognized with an award by Mill 180 Park, it only seemed fitting that he earn a WorkingArtist Award as well.
Ha Phan ’19 takes pride in her work in Tech Theater, no matter what the project. In particular, she is an accomplished prop and scenic painter. Her focused and congenial work ethic set the tone for the groups she works with and the joy she brings to the work spreads quickly to the other crew members.