Over the summer, many Andover students have been busy attending and performing in concerts and productions. From musicals to orchestral tours to concerts, students have participated in a wide range of performing arts from June to August.
Tiffanie An ’29 went to a Stray Kids concert in Seoul, South Korea and noted the energetic atmosphere of the performance.
“My mom surprised me with tickets while we were traveling. The performance was so fun, and they used a lot of [special] effects. A highlight was probably them performing a song that was unreleased at the time. The audience was very loud and lively, and everyone I talked to was really kind as well. I would definitely go again and bring friends with me if they were interested,” said An.
Nathan Chun ’28 toured China and Japan with the Boston Youth Philharmonic Orchestra over the summer. The orchestra performed in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing, Tianjin, Tokyo, and Kyoto, sharing classical music with diverse audiences. He described how the experience enriched his understanding of both music and culture.
“Out of all the pieces we played during the year in the U.S., we picked a few that we thought represented us best to bring on tour, including Mahler Symphony No.1. Despite having worked on these extensively throughout the year, I found that I was discovering much more depth and detail through performing them so frequently, and I really appreciated our pieces much more by the end. It was also great to perform American pieces such as Rhapsody in Blue for these Asian audiences and bring a piece of ourselves to the table. I developed a newfound understanding of these two countries and a lot of optimism that vastly different people can connect through the fundamentally human love of music,” said Chun.
Landon Maloney ’29 attended Noah Kahan’s “The Great Divide Tour” in Boston as a self-proclaimed “super-fan.”
“The vibe of the audience was really awesome because Boston is [Kahan’s] hometown. It was awesome to see [Kahan’s] reaction to the concert. Having seen him six times in the past three to four years, seeing him go from singing for only two thousand people in 2022 to [singing for] over twenty thousand [people] in two years was ridiculous. I would a hundred percent recommend everyone to see Noah Kahan the next time he comes to their home city,” said Maloney.
Kaya Hurteau ’27 attended Interlochen Arts Camp and participated in a semi-professional production of West Side Story.
“The ways that we were learning were so different from the ways that I would learn here at [Andover]. It was really interesting because I find that at [Andover], people are all here for a different purpose. Of course, you’ll find a few people who are there for the same purpose as you, but at Interlochen, everybody was there for musical theater. We had a stage manager, we had a stage crew, we had professional lighting. The set was incredible, and [so were the] costumes and makeup. [For orchestra,] we had a 30+ group of adults who were in the pit. There were just so many different people who were coming together for the exact same reason, which was just to make a good production of something,” said Hurteau.
