The Creation of Ensemble Plus

By Katie Park ‘21

For numerous years, the ensembles were only offered as half-credit courses for everyone at St. Mark’s, but starting this year, they are also offered as full-credit courses for only the third formers. The immediate response from the returning music students was, “That is unfair because we did not have the option of taking a full-credit ensemble class.” However, the addition of Ensemble Plus, the full-credit music course, is for the betterment of the music program as a whole.   

All third formers are required to take six courses. However, since choir, orchestra, and jazz band are half-credit courses, third formers had to take music as their seventh course and give up their free blocks. Some students gave up taking music classes because they desperately needed the free blocks to finish their work. This led the music department to offer the Ensemble Plus to the third formers so that the six-class requirement does not hinder them from continuing their passion for music. However, the Ensemble Plus is only offered for the third formers because the requirement is to take five courses from the fourth form year.

The Ensemble Plus students meet three days a week whereas half-credit course students only meet twice. Also, they have written work that has to do with basic music skills and theory. For the returning musicians who think that the change is unfair, Mr. Wallace, the Director of Music, has responded by saying, “The Ensemble Plus students still have to take the course for two years to fulfill their art requirement just like everyone else.”  Also, Mr. Wallace emphasized how the Ensemble Plus “is a self-selecting process and that it is totally up to the students and their learning style” to choose if they want to take the course.

The change in the music curriculum has truly opened up doors for this year’s third formers. Cathy Zhou `21 shared how she was negatively affected by the six-class requirement in her third-form year by saying, “I was interested in playing an instrument but ended up taking ceramics because I did not want to be overwhelmed with all the work and no frees.” This would not happen to any of the third-formers starting this year, and that is the exact purpose for adding the Ensemble Plus into the music curriculum.

This decision positively influences not only the incoming third-form musicians but also the music program as a whole. If there are more talented musicians taking the ensemble courses, this will truly raise the quality of the music. The ensembles are excited to see these positive changes, and Waverly Shi `21, the Concert Master of the Orchestra, shared, “Our orchestra sounds awesome as it is, but we will sound even better with more musicians.”  

Visiting Artist Rebecca Goodale’s Ant Farm Comes to St. Mark’s

By Olivia Hammond ‘19

This past month, everyone who has walked through the PFAC has seen the exhibition called Ant Farm. It was constructed collaboratively by several female artists who live and work in Maine. Meant to be an immersive experience, the artwork surrounds viewers and encapsulates them in a world of ants. A wide range of artistic media have been used to show these insects, but they are not arranged in the way many artists choose to display their work. Instead, every part of the room is used. Massive scrolls are draped over suspended bars, and large interlocked prints seem to pulsate as they hang in the center of the gallery, framed quilts on the walls make viewers stop and consider what they see.

There is so much depth and beauty in the way this exhibition was created, but also in the content itself. Ants are a powerful metaphor because they are small and often overlooked, yet extremely complex in many ways that we do not even understand. How can they compare to the human species, and how can they compare to our own lives? With a mixture of painting, printmaking, bookmaking, and architecture, the artists have combined their own visions to create one cohesive artifact. It brings up concepts of identity, culture, and nature that must be interpreted by visitors to the gallery.

Rebecca Goodale is one of the principal artists involved in this work. She lives and works at the University of Southern Maine, acting as the program coordinator for the Center of Book Arts. She also teaches and is the recipient of several awards, grants, and fellowship programs at elite colleges and beyond. She is extremely interested in ecology and wildlife, especially regarding the endangerment of plants and animals. In her own words, “Her intention is not to become a scientific illustrator; instead, Goodale wants to inspire sensitivity for these rare florae and fauna by using her background in book arts and textile design to interpret color, pattern, rhythm, and transition.”

On October 5th, the Advanced Art History and Advanced Studio classes had an “in-house field trip.” About twenty students had the privilege of attending a workshop taught by Ms. Goodale from 8:30 to 4:00. They constructed, both collaboratively and individually, three books ( you can see them on display in Taft over the weekend). She directed the class on their books and also displayed a number of examples from classes that she had taught in the past. Learning the complicated processes of book making, even those that were supposedly simple, gave the students a new perspective on how much care goes into a massive exhibit like Ant Farm.

The exhibit is on display through the end of the month- don’t miss it!