From the grand acoustic heights of the Metropolitan Opera to the intimate, historic basements of Greenwich Village jazz clubs, New York City provides an incomparable opportunity for musical inspiration and learning. This April, a group of 24 Kristin Senior School music students experienced this legendary landscape firsthand during an action-packed 11-day tour. Designed as an extended and varied educational masterclass rather than a standard city visit, the trip offered our students a life-changing window into the heart of one of the world’s greatest musical centres.

 

New York City is uniquely positioned as the undisputed global ‘one-stop shop’ for the Performing Arts. Nowhere else on earth can students experience the absolute pinnacle of grand classical opera, cutting-edge contemporary musical theatre, rich jazz heritage, and elite world-renowned training academies within blocks of one another. The primary objective of this tour was to expose our passionate musicians to diverse performance genres, introduce them directly to industry professionals, and inspire them to return home with a broadened creative mindset inspired by the energy and arts scene of New York.

 

 

From the outset, the plan for this trip was to focus on interactive, hands-on workshops and active engagement with professional practitioners, as opposed to simply being spectators. Our students were not merely passive audience members – they stepped directly into the city’s musical arena. At Open Jar Studios, the group participated in a Jazz Improv Workshop with Boston-based group the Boom Chick Trio, breaking down the rules of jazz improvisation under the guidance of inspirational musicians.

 

 

The theatrical world opened its doors even wider during two private Broadway workshops. In the Broadway Conducting Workshop, students worked directly with the musical director of Wicked on Broadway, learning the precision and leadership required to steer a live professional orchestra through a complex score. This was seamlessly paired with a Broadway Singing Workshop, where vocal technique, storytelling and stage presence were evaluated by a current cast member of Hadestown, challenging our students to push past their comfort zones. Additionally, attending the New York Philharmonic Young Composers Workshop gave our students a rare behind-the-scenes look at how raw creative concepts are scored and brought to life.

 

 

The sheer diversity of live music we experienced was unparalleled. Students straddled centuries of musical evolution, taking in the timeless grandeur of Puccini's La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera House, followed by the multi-award-winning modern orchestration of Hadestown on Broadway, Buena Vista Social Club, and CATS: The Jellicle Ball. A dedicated tour of the Juilliard School campus allowed students to walk the halls of the world’s elite conservatory, while a late-night set from the Ari Hoenig Trio at historic Greenwich Village jazz club ‘Smalls’ offered an unforgettable lesson in the height of jazz performance.

 

 

An intensive trip of this calibre changes a student. By experiencing New York as a vibrant, multi-disciplinary classroom, our senior musicians did not just observe excellence; they lived it. As they returned home to Auckland, they brought back a renewed musical vocabulary, global insights and a lifelong inspiration that will stay with them forever.

 

By Nick Duirs

Head of Faculty - Visual & Performing Arts

 

From Kaleidoscope Issue 75 – Read the full magazine online here