By Tyler Friedman ’17, Staff Writer

Often, the talents of students in the Upper School seem to overshadow those of students in the Middle School. However, there are many Middle School students who are making significant contributions to the arts at Newark Academy.

Among these talented middle schoolers are Jake McEvoy ’18, Zach Kessel ’19, and Spencer Wang ’19. All three of them are members of the Middle School Chorus at Newark Academy. Additionally, they were all recently accepted as members of the All Eastern Jr. High Honor Choir, a choir for students in seventh, eighth, and ninth grade. Jake began singing in choral ensembles and other similar groups when he was in fifth grade, and Spencer has been doing so since first grade. Zach says he has been performing vocally since he was three years old. When asked about their experience with the choral program at Newark Academy, they explained that Newark Academy has provided them with many more opportunities to perform, and has truly helped them to harness their talent. Jake stated, “I feel that Newark Academy has provided me with many opportunities to enhance my singing abilities.” Another aspect of Newark Academy that they discussed was the judgment free environment. At their old schools, people were not very accepting of their passion for singing. However, people at Newark Academy are very supportive of their interests. Jake, Zach, and Spencer all also expressed that singing in the Choral program with Mr. Lal has helped them improve and widen their range of skills, giving them opportunities to sing parts for various sections of the chorus.

Another middle schooler who has made a major impact on the Arts program at Newark Academy is Cosimo Fabrizio ’18. He plays guitar as a member of the select jazz ensemble at Newark Academy, Chameleon. Chameleon recently won the 2014 National Mingus competition. In addition to playing jazz guitar at Newark Academy, he also is a member of the prestigious Julliard Pre-College Program. Every Saturday, he goes into New York to Julliard and spends a full day there, similar to a full school day. He attends eight periods of different music classes, varying from rehearsals to music theory. Cosimo has known how to play guitar since age ten, but started performing and studying more seriously in the past year or so. When asked about the effect that Newark Academy has made on his performing, he explained that Newark Academy has given him many more opportunities to play with older and more experienced players such as Coleman Hughes ’14 and Kevin Jiang ’15. Cosimo also stated, “Mr. T. has allowed me to expand my musical knowledge and has acted as my role model. He has also given me a lot of opportunities to perform, play with more experienced musicians, and overall improve my skills.”

Evidently, the Middle School is not to be overlooked when it comes to artistic talent. As a community, Newark Academy looks forward to watching these young artists develop their already unbelievable talents.