Augusta Prep's program allows young talents in area to bloom

A performance by Celtic fiddle phenomenon Jamie Laval at Augusta Preparatory Day School on Saturday is as much about education as it is entertainment.

• Photos

Back | Next

Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Kamryn Krishnan (left) and Josie Stephens practice ballet under the guidance of instructor Julia Morgan. Ms. Morgan said the Augusta Prep program brings ballet into a wider realm of performance and energizes her as a teacher.

Back | Next

Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Sam Murray and Megan Gentry practice their guitar skills with the help of teacher Carl Purdy during a class that is part of the Augusta Prep Conser-vatory program.

Advertisement

It is being presented as part of the Augusta Preparatory Day School Conservatory program.

The program, which started in January 2008, is designed to give students an opportunity to explore dance and music with professional instructors. Although the program is at Augusta Prep, it has an open enrollment.

Its music classes cover string, brass, woodwind, voice and percussion. Dance classes are available for ballet, tap, modern jazz and creative movement.

Lillie Morris teaches traditional music forms at the Conservatory, drawing from her experience as a Celtic fiddler. She said the strength of the program is the depth of its faculty and the array of subjects they can teach.

"Look at me," she said. "To have a traditional music teacher in a conservatory environment is, well, pretty nontraditional."

The Conservatory began as the pet project of Anne Marie Thomas, a teacher at Augusta Prep and a 14-year member of the Augusta Symphony.

"We wanted to see a well-rounded conservatory program in Columbia County," she said. "We wanted to provide something that would be accessible to everyone in the Augusta area. Our philosophy was that music should be for everyone."

The music program proved so popular that dance was added last year. Conservatory coordinator Peter Powlus said the program continues to grow.

"Growth is an illustration of success," he said. "We get new registrations every day, and that, to me, says something."

Mr. Powlus acknowledged that classes held after school make participation sometimes difficult for students outside Augusta Prep.

He said he would like to set up a satellite program with Martinez Elementary School, down the road from Prep.

"It seems like a natural," he said. "I really hope this spreads. I can't help but think it will spread. I can't help but think that what we're seeing here is the next generation of artists and performers and patrons."

Julia Morgan teaches dance in the Conservatory program. She said the program's multidisciplined nature has altered the environment she teaches in and the way she approaches her craft.

"When we're working on the stage here, we're surrounded by kids and teachers and activity," she said. "That's a welcome change. A ballet studio is sort of a vacuum.

"I love knowing that here I'm part of a larger whole. It gives me so much artistic energy."

Ms. Morris said that although her lessons focus on training the ear and building technique, those are merely means to an end. She said her goal is to ensure that students find the joy inherent in making music.

It is part of the reason she asked Mr. Laval to perform.

"He's classically educated, but this is music that just spoke to him," she said. "That's what I want to students to understand and aspire to. All music has legitimacy. It should be joyful. Success, for me, is cultivating that love."