- Arts + Music
- Upper School
Not long after McCallie's student recital, "An Afternoon of Music," began on Sunday, March 2, in the chapel, Eunice Kal could be seen racing up the center aisle toward the exit. Her son Kelvin, a McCallie sophomore, and daughter Karen, a Girls Preparatory School freshman, had just performed beautiful violin solos, but there were still 10 acts to be heard.
"Oh, I hated to leave," Kal said later. "But my children had another recital I had to get them to that afternoon."
That is the kind of talent that was on display for more than 70 minutes in the chapel. Talent in demand. Violin talent. Guitar talent. Singing talent. Clarinet, tuba, and bassoon talent. Piano talent.
While most of the talent matriculates at McCallie and GPS, at least a couple of kids, including Collegedale Academy freshman tuba player Cody Wear, take lessons from Michael Ake, McCallie's chair for the performing arts.
"Cody was recently awarded the principal chair in an honors orchestra in Walla Walla, Washington," said Ake. "He is a very talented kid, and he is getting better all the time. But Sunday's recital featured a lot of outstanding performances, demonstrating the dedication and talent of the student musicians at GPS, McCallie, and elsewhere. A wide range of our music programs were represented, showcasing the depth and diversity of our students' abilities."
Such diversity. There were three violin solos—the Kals and sixth grader Arnav Palamati. There was the guitar solo by sophomore Om Kapadia. There was the duet of sophomore Gus Wilson on the clarinet and junior Joe Chambers on the bassoon performing "Chasing Rabbits." Freshman Luke Vollertson and sophomore piano virtuoso Cameron Kitts teamed up on "March" by Robert Schumann. Then Kitts was at it again with the tuba-toting Wear—"When the tuba is in its case, it weighs 40 pounds," Wear said—for "Suite for Tuba, Second Movement."
Not to be outdone by all these instrumentals, senior Jake Studley masterfully sang "Ride On, King Jesus," with McCallie choral director James Harr accompanying him on piano.
Harr said of Studley's powerful solo, "He knocked it out of the park."
Studley helped his fellow VoCallie singers—Elijah Cooper, Thomas Hardin, Ellison Lord, Benjamin Jeong, Nathaniel Johnston, Lincoln Olson, and Jack Schurr—knock it out of the park on "Good Old Acapella."
But there was also a tinge of bittersweetness, if not sadness, to the penultimate appearance of the Guitar Quartet, who actually appeared for the final time ever as a fearsome foursome. After three years of winning hearts and awards for guitar teacher Michael McCallie, the senior trio of Sid Cheemakoti, Colin Sanders, and Walker White's final appearance in the McCallie chapel will be as a quintet at Whirlwind later in the spring. On that day, they will be joined by current Quartet member Nathan Campbell and future quartet member Kapadia.
"It is a little hard emotionally," said McCallie. "Walker and Colin have been with me since my first year here. There are so many good memories of being with those two and Sid on trips and events. The quartet will be fine. Along with Nathan and Om, we have got a lot of good guys waiting in the wings. But it is tough losing those three all at once. The good part is they will all go on and do great things."
And unlike at the recital, where they reprised the majestic "Pacific Coast Highway" a final time, they will be breaking in a new song at Whirlwind, the upbeat "Twangology for Five Guitars," a tribute to the late guitar legend Django Reinhardt.
"Sid, Colin, and Walker have always needed pressure to play their best," said McCallie. "And they have always felt the most pressure when playing in front of the student body in the chapel. So I imagine that Whirlwind will be one of their best performances ever."
To that end, White wrote in an email this week: "Whirlwind will be an amazing concert for the quintet. We are playing a really cool piece and going to try to go out with a bang."
Said Sanders: "I am very excited to play for Whirlwind because the piece we are playing now is super fun and groovy. I feel like Sid, Walker, and I can finish our Guitar years out with a bang with this song, and I believe we will have a lot of fun playing it."
Added Cheemakoti, "Even though we are playing as a quintet for Whirlwind, I am not too sad because I still get another chance to play with the guys. It is bittersweet knowing that it is coming to an end, but I am grateful that I got to play with those guys for as long as we have."
And when Whirlwind ends, expect Ake to say of that event, as he did on Sunday of the recital: "This was a wonderful celebration of these students' hard work and artistic growth."
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