Pictured left to right are: Jiah Lee, violin, Rowan Mastrangelo, baritone, Sanjna Rajagopalan, soprano, Karen Matsuura, piano, Sunny Rhew, clarinet, Markus Ryen, trumpet
Photo by Jeffrey Haas
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, on Thursday, November 11, the Ridgewood High School Department of Visual and Performing Arts will open the 59th season of the Maroon & White Music Recital and Art Exhibit Series with the first concert and exhibit of the 2021-22 school year. The first of six such events for this year, the opening concert will be held in the RHS Learning Commons beginning at 3:45PM, followed immediately by a reception and gallery opening in the Carroll Art Gallery. Admission is free and open to the public.
After more than a year of virtual performances and exhibits, this year’s events will be held in person with protocols for distancing and mask wearing in place for all attendees.
The musicians chosen for the honor of opening this year’s recital series include Markus Ryen, trumpet, Karen Matsuura, piano, Rowan Mastrangelo, baritone, Sanjna Rajagopalan, soprano, Seung Hee (Sunny) Rhew, clarinet, and Jiah Lee, violin. Musical selections will include works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Paganini, Prokofiev, Rabaud, and Vaughn Williams.. The art exhibit will include original works by Ashlee Fong, Sarah Jeong, Audrey Jerkovich, Anastasia Toporova, Brigitte Walla and LuLu Xu.
The Maroon and White Recital Series began in 1964 as a means of highlighting outstanding Ridgewood High School musicians in a featured solo capacity. Over the past five decades, the series has expanded to include art exhibits as well as a recital featuring only dancers. Musicians and dancers are selected through competitive audition, while artists are chosen after an extensive portfolio review. Past Maroon & White recitalists include Jonathan Spitz, principal cellist with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Elizabeth Ostling, associate principal flutist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the piano duo of Sarah and Susan Wang, Tony Award winning Broadway singer/dancer Ali Stroker, Stephanie Buesser, dancer with Ballet West, New York City choreographer Yael Nachajon, Broadway director Marc Bruni, jazz organist Jared Gold and many others. The list of past artists includes Lauren Roth of Lauren Roth Art, renowned illustrator Kyle McCullough, Giovanni Forlino, whose work can be seen on display at the Getty and Guggenheim museums, plus a host of professional freelance artists who work in a wide variety of visual art related fields.
Upcoming Maroon & White Recital/Exhibits will take place on January 13, February 17, March 24, April 7 (Dance) and April 21. All recitals are held in the RHS Learning Commons, with the exception of the dance recital, which takes place in the Little Theater. For more information, please contact the RHS Department of Visual and Performing Arts at 201-670-2800 x. 20542.
below is a sampling of the artistic work by Ashlee Fong, Sarah Jeong, Audrey Jerkovich, Anastasia Toporova, Brigitte Walla and LuLu Xu.
