FPAC scheduled to perform at The Green Room in NYC - Feb 19

FPAC is headed to NYC! 

Join FPAC performers, alums, and guests including Broadway stars Tyler Hanes (CATS), Sara Jean Ford (Phantom of the Opera), Emily Koch (Kimberly Akimbo), Jim Hogan (Kimberly Akimbo), Clay Rice-Thomson (Moulin Rouge), Christopher Rice-Thomson (Hamilton), Liz Byrne (Baby It's You!), and Nick Rehberger (Fiddler on the Roof) as they celebrate the Franklin Performing Arts Company at The Green Room 42 in NYC on Sunday, February 19 at 9:30 PM! 

Hosted by Your Broadway Buddy Ben Cameron! Directed by FPAC Artistic/Executive Director Raye Lynn Mercer with musical direction by Mark Ceppetelli. 

Tickets available at thegreenroom42.venuetix.com.

Shared from Instagram -> https://www.instagram.com/p/CoXXhswLxu5/

FPAC performing at The Green Room in NYC - Feb 19

"Some 2,000 hidden infections were already spreading through major cities"

From the New York Times, comes a great read showing research on how much travel (without social distancing and other measures) spread the virus around  before the country acted on it. 

Note: this is best viewed on a laptop/desktop. The phone screen was too small to display the scrolling data.
 

"Invisible outbreaks sprang up everywhere. The United States ignored the warning signs. We analyzed travel patterns, hidden infections and genetic data to show how the epidemic spun out of control."

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-spread.html

screen capture of NY Times article

NY Times: "The Untold Story of the Birth of Social Distancing"

From the New York Times we find this long read but good background information on where 'social distancing' came from.

"Fourteen years ago, two federal government doctors, Richard Hatchett and Carter Mecher, met with a colleague at a burger joint in suburban Washington for a final review of a proposal they knew would be treated like a piñata: telling Americans to stay home from work and school the next time the country was hit by a deadly pandemic.

When they presented their plan not long after, it was met with skepticism and a degree of ridicule by senior officials, who like others in the United States had grown accustomed to relying on the pharmaceutical industry, with its ever-growing array of new treatments, to confront evolving health challenges.

Drs. Hatchett and Mecher were proposing instead that Americans in some places might have to turn back to an approach, self-isolation, first widely employed in the Middle Ages.

How that idea — born out of a request by President George W. Bush to ensure the nation was better prepared for the next contagious disease outbreak — became the heart of the national playbook for responding to a pandemic is one of the untold stories of the coronavirus crisis."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/us/politics/social-distancing-coronavirus.html

Shared earlier in this pandemic period but a great visual on how social distancing works.  YouTube Link = https://youtu.be/o4PnSYAqQHU

Franklin School For The Performing Arts, Presents Students For Examinations In The American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum

Franklin School for the Performing Arts will present its students for Examinations in the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum on June 15, 2019, at ABT’s studios in New York, NY. The Examination class will be taught by ABT Certified Teacher, Cheryl Madeux, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT National Training Curriculum.

Franklin School for the Performing Arts is proud to incorporate the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum, a nine-level program that combines high quality artistic training with the basics of dancer health and child development for students of all ages and skill levels. Upon successful exam completion, Cheryl Madeux will earn the distinction of ABT Affiliate Teacher.

Cheryl Madeux

ABT’s National Training Curriculum is a program for the development and training of young students that embraces sound ballet principles and incorporates elements of the French, Italian and Russian schools of training. Under the direction of ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie, the Curriculum aims to assist beginning through advanced teachers in training dance students to use their bodies correctly, focusing on kinetics and coordination, as well as anatomy and proper body alignment. The National Training Curriculum strives to provide dance students with a rich knowledge of classical ballet technique and the ability to adapt to all styles and techniques of dance.

“After nearly ten years, American Ballet Theatre's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and our related Summer Intensive program has seen the impact that American Ballet Theatre's National Training Curriculum has meant to dance teachers and ballet students across the country and internationally,” says Cynthia Harvey, Artistic Director of ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. 

“We are pleased that teachers and students are implementing the guidelines recommended by the Curriculum and working in a way that will lead them towards a long and healthy career. The Curriculum is fluid and will expand as we continue to investigate the way that dance, and sport science is developing and impacting the way we can train dancers to reach their optimum physical and artistic potential.”

American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum can be used to enhance an existing syllabus and to assist teachers in working appropriately with young dancers. Attendees of the ABT Teacher Training Intensive program have the opportunity to become certified in the Curriculum by successfully passing comprehensive examinations.

For more information, please visit: www.abt.org/education/NTC/.
For information on Franklin School for the Performing Arts, visit: https://www.fspaonline.com/

Two Encore Students Awarded National Gold Medals In Music; Eight Students Headed To Carnegie Hall

Encore Music Academy and Recording Studios, in Franklin, MA, is pleased provide two significant announcements regarding student achievements.

Claire Bauer, age 15 of Franklin, and Maura Johnston, age 16 of Norfolk, are both students of voice at Encore Music Academy and Recording Studios. Each young woman has recently been awarded the National Gold Medal of Excellence for 2018 by the Royal Conservatory of Music: Bauer for Level 6 Voice, and Johnston for Level 2 Voice. 

The Royal Conservatory of Music awards the National Gold Medal of Excellence to the student who has achieved the highest score in the country within their specific skill level for each instrument during the academic year. For the assessments, students are scored on proficiency in the following areas: performance; technical requirements; aural skills; rhythm; and sight-reading ability.

Johnston, who has been studying voice for three years and piano for one year under the expert guidance of piano and vocal instructor, Rebecca Abalutzk, also performs and records albums with the recording ensemble, The Encore EnHarmonix. Abalutzk said, "I am both extremely proud and fortunate to work with such a driven young woman. She is the type of student who reminds me why I became a teacher in the first place".

Claire Bauer, under the guidance of her vocal instructor, Lisa Ostrow, (who has guided students to National Gold medals three times previously), began her studies in voice using the curriculum of the RCM right from the start. Upon hearing of her award, Bauer mused, 

"Well, I think getting this award has a lot to do with the person who drives me everywhere," and then she gave her mom the biggest smile ever. Ostrow said, "Students like Claire are every teacher's dream. They challenge us to be the very best that we can be, so that they can reach their full potential."

Encore students Claire Bauer and Maura Johnston

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!!

This year, on February 16, an unprecedented number of Encore students will be making the trip to New York City to perform on the stage at the illustrious Carnegie Hall! Two of them, Maura Johnston, National Gold Medal winner 2018 and State winner 2017, and Mia Quinn, National Gold Medal winner 2017, and State winner 2018, will be making their second appearance in two years. 

These eight students, including Bauer and Johnston, were invited to perform based upon their exemplary success in their respective levels of voice and piano in the 2018 Royal Conservatory of Music academic year. Many congratulations to the following six additional Encore performers and their instructors:

● Amelia MacEvoy, age 11 of Medway, Level 1 piano and student of Rebecca Abalutzk
● Alyssa McGuirl, age 10 of Millis, Level 2 voice and student of Caitlin Medlin
● Sneha Mukkavilli, age 10 of Walpole, Level 1 piano and student of Rebecca Abalutzk
● Max Olson, age 16 of Medway, Level 4 piano and student of Scott Nicholas
● Mia Quinn, age 12 of Franklin, Level 1 voice and student of Lisa Ostrow
● Sunehri Verma, age 11 of Franklin, Level 1 piano and student of Lisa Ostrow

FSPA Students Learn from Broadway Stars in NYC

Over MLK Weekend, students from the Franklin School for the Performing Arts (FSPA) traveled to New York City to study with Broadway professionals. FSPA Musical Theater students of all ages took Song Interpretation, Monologue, and Theater Dance classes with Broadway stars, casting directors, and agents, while FSPA Dance students took classes at the world-renowned Broadway Dance Center. This trip has been an annual offering for FSPA students since 2008.

The instructors for this year’s master class weekend included Tony Award nominees Jenn Colella (Come From Away, If/Then, Chaplin) and Alexander Gemignani (Carousel, Hamilton, Chicago, Violet, Sweeney Todd, etc.), Broadway performers Darlesia Cearcy (Once on This Island, Shuffle Along, The Color Purple, The Book of Mormon, Ragtime), Christopher Rice (The Book of Mormon, Jack Kelly in Disney’s Newsies with the Franklin Performing Arts Company), Clay Thomson (Wicked, Disney’s Newsies, King Kong, Matilda), Tyler Haynes (Cats, Hairspray, Oklahoma, The Boy from Oz), Tyrick Wiltez Jones (Hairspray, Finian’s Rainbow), Andi Hopkins (Nat’l Tour of Dreamgirls), and NY Casting Director Bob Cline. 

The weekend concluded with a showcase for a panel of staff from Broadway Artists Alliance as well as agent Greg Uliasz. From this showcase, some FSPA students will be selected to return to NYC in February to study at the Broadway Artists Alliance Winter Workshop.

The students also attended the Broadway show The Prom starring Tony Award winner, and frequent FSPA guest instructor, Beth Leavel. After the show, they were treated to a private question and answer session with Ms. Leavel. "I wish I had a Franklin School for the Performing Arts in my life when I was growing up,” says the Tony Award winner. “It's invaluable."

In addition to classes and shows, a tradition of FSPA’s annual New York City weekend is a dinner with FSPA alumni living and working in New York City. FSPA currently has alumni working on Broadway, off-Broadway, in National Tours, on film, TV, professional opera, and regional theater across the country.

For more information on programs at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts, visit www.fspaonline.com, call 508-528-8668, or stop by 38 Main Street in Franklin, MA. FSPA is currently offering an “All Access Pass” to new students which includes a free trial class as well as tickets to an upcoming performance.

FSPA students taking a theater dance class with Broadway's Clay Thomson
(Newsies, Wicked, Matilda, King Kong) and Christopher Rice (The Book of Mormon).