The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

Daniel Wu (22) performs “If Ever I Would Leave You” by Robert Goulet. Daniel and The Spizzwinks visited Harker as a destination of their Hometown Tour.

Yale Spizzwinks brings harmony home

by Young Min and Suhani Gupta April 3, 2024

Threads of voices weave together, uniting into a rich, almost instrumental sound. Unique stories, expressed through singing, intertwine and transcend barriers to create a sanctuary for the audience. Yale...

Students David Jiang (9), Tiana Salvi (11), Harshini Chaturvedula (11) and Ivanya Sadana (9) express their cultures by playing musical instruments, dancing and singing while wearing cultural apparel. (Illustration by Young Min, Photos by Margaret Cartee and provided by Tiana Salvi)

Creativity builds cultural bridges

by Tiffany Zhu March 28, 2024

Every step to a dance, every stitch for a keychain, every note from an instrument and every lyric in a song form a vibrant tapestry of cultural expression, weaving a connection between artists and their...

Nicki Minaj performs at her Pink Friday 2 Tour, smoke and smotlights lighting up the stage. The concert had a setlist of 36 tracks with songs from all of her albums. (Provided by Ie-Chen Cheng)

Nicki Minaj brings the heat at Pink Friday 2 tour opener

by Ashley Mo, Assistant STEM Editor March 24, 2024

Hot pink spotlights. Drums clashing. The stadium erupts in cheers as the iconic opening of “I’m The Best” fills the air while flashes of white light dance to the synth beat. Rapper and singer Nicki...

Moshfegh exposes the emptiness and futility of chasing after superficial pleasures, painting a bleak portrait of a society adrift in a sea of excess. However, her dry wit and razor-sharp observations inject much-needed lightness into an otherwise heavy narrative, making it a surprisingly enjoyable read.

Book Corner: Wake up

by Jessica Wang March 17, 2024

Sometimes, you just want to sleep. The stress of everything around you presses on more and more. Maybe erasing yourself would serve as the easiest form of release from all external pressures. But the world...

Downbeat member Shayla He (12) sings Jupiter: Every Day I Listen To My Heart, a Japanese song by Ayaka Hirahara. The upper school acapella group also performed Cells, Planets and Levitating.

United Voices resonates inspiration and connection

by Eva Cheng March 11, 2024

Backstage, a twelfth grade performer adjusts the crooked collar of his seventh grade companion. A fourth grade student weaves her way through Rothschild Performing Arts Center, waving at the older students...

Harshini Chaturvedula (12) waves her hand as she conducts a the string ensembles rendition of Adoration by Florence Price. I’m always in admiration of the talented, friendly musicians around me, Harshini said. Everyone contributes to this community and makes it the amazing group it is for all of us.

Orchestra members take charge in student-led Chamber Music Concert

by Kevin Zhang March 10, 2024

Harmonies greet guests entering Patil Theater, as the glint of instruments sparkle among student performers illuminated onstage. Intermittent notes echo throughout the venue while musicians tune their...

Predictions for the 2024 Oscars

by Desiree Luo and Gabe Sachse March 9, 2024

Gabe: Hi, I'm Gabe Sachse, and I'm an Assistant News editor for Harker Aquila. Desiree: And I’m Desiree Luo, and I'm one of the Aquila Managing Editors. Gabe: Today we're going to be discussing...

Bahar Sodeifi (11) and Kyle Li (11) play the saxophone during Jazz Bands performance at the Essentially Ellington Festival. Harker performed Manceta by Dizzy Gillespie. (Provided by Essentially Ellington Festival)

Jazz Band attends Essentially Ellington Festival in Orlando

by Disha Gupta March 9, 2024

Amidst rows and rows of passionate high-school musicians, all eyes turned to the Harker Jazz Band as they took center stage at the Essentially Ellington Festival held at the Phillips Center of Performing...

Directors’ Roundtable: Revisiting Stories from Student-Directed Showcase

by Alison Yang and Suhani Gupta March 8, 2024

A month ago, the Conservatory premiered the annual Student Directed Showcase. The directors, seniors Isabella Ribeiro, Mariana Rai, Selina Xu and Sonya Apsey, each selected and produced four one-act plays...

Organist Brian Ho responds to saxophonist Aaron Lingtons improvisation during a performance of Lingtons original tune Nostalgic. It really is like a musical conversation, Ho said. We feel each other out and take turns to listen to each other.

Aaron Lington organ quartet energizes stage with live jazz

by Jeremy Peng and Jessica Wang March 6, 2024

Before one note fades, the next bursts forth, each as unexpected as the last. The guitarist grins, his fingers dancing across the strings as the organist cushions their cutting richness with a flurry of...

The 2023 release “Wonka” tells the origin story of Willy Wonka from Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. With its appealing visuals, catchy tunes and lighthearted villain roles, the musical constructs a fantastical and enchanting world, despite being cheesy at times.

A charming chocolatier

by Eva Cheng, Co-Assistant Sports Editor March 4, 2024

Arriving in a whimsical metropolis with nothing but dreams, a young, starry-eyed Willy Wonka strolls into the square of Galerie Gourmet, home of the world’s most renowned chocolatiers, hoping to start...

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