![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Spring musical cast list announced
Jeton Gutierrez-Bujari (12) and Rishabh Chandra (11), played the baker and Jack in last year’s spring musical, “Into the Woods.” Rehearsals for this year’s musical will begin after February break.
January 22, 2016
The cast list for this year’s musical, “Bye, Bye Birdie,” was posted on the Harker Conservatory page on Schoology, last Friday by the musical directors, casting a total of 47 Upper School students.
Communication manager Catherine Snider and head of performing arts Laura Lang-Ree are the directors of the 2016 spring musical. Auditions and callbacks were held last week, and the directors finalized the cast list last Friday.
Each student had an individual audition in which they performed a monologue, sang 16 bars of music, and created and performed a character of their own. In addition to this, they also took part in a dance audition.
“For both Ms. Snider and I, it comes down to the students who can really tell the story,” Lang-Ree said. “So they have a great stage presence, they’re accurately depicting whatever emotion or story needs to be told by their characters, in their acting, and their singing, and their dancing.”
The four principal roles were given to Kayvon Solaimanpour (11), playing Albert Peterson, Namitha Vellian (12), playing Rose Alvarez, Emre Ezer (11), playing Conrad Birdie, and Mia Giammona (11), playing the role of Kim MacAfee.
“Bye, Bye Birdie” was first performed in 1963 and is composed by Charles Strouse and Johnny Green. In the musical, Albert, the manager of singer and teen heartthrob, Conrad Birdie, writes a song called “One Last Kiss” with his wife Rose, and Birdie randomly chooses a Birdie Fangirl from one of his fanclubs to kiss before he goes off to war.
Along with upperclassmen, freshmen will also take part in the musical and were given named parts, as well as featured dancers. Matthew Hajjar (9) was casted as Brett and a Featured Dancer.
“I was a little nervous because they gave us music and we had to go home and prepare it,” Matthew said. “They also gave us a dance that we had to remember and to prepare myself, I just listened to the recording I made on my phone and then sang back to that, as well as prepared a monologue.”
Arjun Subramaniam (11) got the part of Conrad Birdie’s guitar player and is also part of “Maude’s Male Quartet,” the Overture Soloists, and “Dudes.”
“[I’m looking forward to] the performance week and the performances,” Arjun said. “I always find that performance week is when you really identify with the other cast members, making friends, and really seeing the work you’ve done come to life.”
Rehearsals for the 2016 Spring Musical start after February break.
