Selected students to work with nationally renowned composer

Nationally renowned composer Sean O’Loughlin, who is the principal pops conductor for Syracuse’s Symphoria and has worked with musicians such as Adele, Josh Groban, Kelly Clarkson, Itzhak Perlman and the Blue Man Group, is using creative projects from 24 Eagle Hill students to create a custom musical composition that will capture the school’s character education theme “Beauty and Excellence.”

F-M music teacher Terri Tallman, with funding support through the F-M Education Foundation and the Eagle Hill Home and School Association, began this collaborative venture called the “Beauty and Excellence Project” to involve Eagle Hill students in a creative process so they could develop a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation for the arts.

Tallman said that every Eagle Hill student was given the opportunity to design and submit a work of art, a written poem or essay or a short musical score that celebrates and reflects the school’s beauty and excellence. The submissions were reviewed by a panel of judges who selected two pieces from each grade level for each category (art, writing and music) to present to O’Loughlin during his visit to the school.

The students with winning selections received an award and got to meet O’Loughlin. They will also be recognized in the concert program when the personalized musical composition performed by the school’s Grade 7/8 Band is premiered for the community in June.

In addition to students learning about the creative process of composing, they also learned more about the careers of musicians and composers, got a snapshot of what is involved in writing music for a movie and even learned new ways to continue to develop their own music writing skills, Tallman said.

“The musical composition is an incredible opportunity for students to contribute in a meaningful and memorable way to a project that will serve as a lasting source of pride for Eagle Hill,” Tallman said.

Top entries for music composition:

Grade 5: Michaela Scalzetti.

Grade 6: Kaylee Yang and Olivia Barnhart.

Grade 7: Sara Kronenberg and Ashley Schneider.

Grade 8: William Forbes and Milo Sinclair.

The overall winner was Milo Sinclair.

Top entry for essays:

Grade 6: Andrew Nocilly and Somya Chakraborty.

Grade 7: Allison Wong.

The overall winner was Somya Chakraborty.

Top entries for art projects:

Grade 5: Carlye Bryant and Abby Muscatello.

Grade 6: Jackson Burton and Nithya Gangireddy.

Grade 7: Olivia Kimbrough and Claire Lee.

Grade 8: Ethan Teluk and PeiLin Lu.

The overall winner was PeiLin Lu.