ISSMA Solo and Ensemble District Contest

Park Tudor students from all divisions made an excellent showing at the Indiana State School Music Association district solo and ensemble competition over the weekend. In total, Park Tudor had 32 soloists and 30 ensembles involving 162 musicians competing. Nine of our soloists will be going on to the state competition, along with four ensembles involving 27 members. See the full list of participants.

ISSMA Piano and Voice District Contest

Park Tudor was well-represented by 97 students (grades 5 through 12) on Saturday, Feb. 6th at Westfield Middle School for the ISSMA (Indiana State School Music Association) district-level Piano and Voice contest.

Thirteen students (3 MS and 10 US) competed in the top level of competition, "Group One," and received a gold rating for their performance. This entitles them to compete at the state level contest at Perry Meridian on Sat., Feb. 20th. See the full list of participants.

Scholastic Art & Writing Competition

Congratulations to the 18 Upper School students who received 37 awards in the 2015-2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Competition. Students received Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention awards for their work in Drawing, Design, Digital Art, Painting, Photography and Printmaking created in courses taught by Ms. Laura Schroeder, Ms. Stefanie Dean and Mrs. Heather Teets. Congratulations, as well, to Middle School students Freddie Hoskins, Hudson Reamer and Lily Sumner who received awards in the 2015-2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Students received Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention awards for their work in ceramics, drawing and photography created in Ms. Campbell's Middle School Art classes.

Gold Key art is forwarded to New York City for National Adjudication. A special art exhibition will be held at Clowes Memorial Hall on the campus of Butler University from February 3 through February 28, 2016. See the full list of art award winners here.

Several Upper School students also won Scholastic Writing awards. Congratulations to:

• Elizabeth Dassow (Gold Key, Short Story and Silver Key, Poetry)
• Beatrice Bowlby (Silver Key, Flash Fiction and Silver Key, Poetry)
• Julia King (Silver Key, Poetry and two Honorable Mentions, Science Fiction/Fantasy)
• Maya Mishra (Honorable Mention, Short Story)
• Caroline Polak (Honorable Mention, Poetry)

Artisan News

The 2015 issue of the Artisan was awarded a Superior ranking and a nomination for the Highest Award by the National Council of Teachers of English's Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines contest. This issue was also awarded First Place with Special Merit and Most Outstanding Private School Literary-Art Magazine by the American Scholastic Press Association. Upper School English teacher Laura Gellin is the advisor for the Artisan, and Angela Li was the editor of the 2015 issue.

Writers, artists, and designers West Clark, Ellie Dassow, Clare Chandler, Annie Dora, Angela Li, and Rena Li collaborated with students overseas to create art, compose writing, and design layouts to be featured in this year's new international feature of the Artisan. By exploring the concept of home, students from PT, the American School of Guadalajara, and Lycee La Salle Maison Blanche in Reunion Island learned from each other, worked with each other, and broadened their sense of global community. This collaborative project is the first of its kind in terms of its international reach and the types of collaboration employed. Artisan advisor Laura Gellin presented the project on a panel "NCTE PRESLM Presents: A Review of the Nation's Best Student Literary Magazines and Distance Collaborations among Student Writers and Artists" at the NCTE national conference (National Council of Teachers of English) in St. Paul this past November.

Jazz Festivals

The Park Tudor Jazz Band recently participated in two major jazz festivals: The Bloomington Jazz Festival on December 12 and the Purdue Jazz Festival on January 23. At both of these events Parker Reiselman (guitar) and Jonathan Moore (flute) received Outstanding Soloist awards from the judges. Additionally, Evan Clark won an Outstanding Musician award at the Bloomington Jazz Festival. The band received a Superior Rating at the Purdue Jazz Festival. The students got to hear concerts and clinics by outstanding musicians such as Conrad Herwig, Rob Parton, Luke Gillespie, the Buselli Wallarab Jazz Orchestra and the Purdue Jazz Band.