All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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Keynes Chen came to Niwot High School in January of 2019 with 15 students across three different ensembles. By the end of the following school year, he had 85 students across three groups and has since added two more ensembles, with another in development. "That first year really energized me," said Chen. Niwot now offers three orchestras, a small ensemble, and a mariachi ensemble, and will be looking to add another mariachi group to the list of available courses due to the growing interest and...
When Yaretzi Martinez Prieto was younger, she enjoyed the way music sounded. Her father wanted her to play in the orchestra, but she decided to join the school band instead, playing alto sax when she entered Longs Peak Middle School. But Prieto remained interested in orchestra, and later she began to learn guitar, which led her on the path to mariachi. "Since mariachi is part of my culture," Prieto said, "my parents were very supportive of my interest in it, and they helped me get into the...
Niwot High School is host to many music courses, ensembles, and after-school groups - it always has been. But recently there has been an increase in musical presence and student dedication. That's not to say that music at NHS hasn't always been filled with exceptionally dedicated students and staff, but it feels that in recent years there has been a significant increase and fulfillment, making it desired by the larger student body. The latest of these groups is the Niwot High School Mariachi...
Last year, several students from the choir and orchestra departments at Niwot High School were given separate opportunities to travel during the spring and summer of the 2022-2023 school year. Orchestra members took a trip to Europe and the Baltics, while choir members took their traditional trip traveling to New York City to perform on Broadway and see some Broadway musicals. This year, the music department world tour continues for students at NHS. Keynes Chen, the orchestra director at Niwot,...
Winter is a time for cheer, time with loved ones, good food, and of course, festive music. The Niwot High School orchestras, choirs, and bands will be hosting their annual winter concerts from Dec. 4 through Dec. 7. Kicking off the performance schedule on Monday, Dec. 4 at 7:00 p.m. is the “Winter Jazz in the Rockies” concert featuring the two jazz band ensembles at Niwot High School. The ensembles will perform several pieces including Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five,” Van Morrison’s “Moondance,” Lena Horne’s famous “Stormy Weather,” and more....
When Niwot High School music students traveled to Europe for two weeks last summer, visiting Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland, one of the highlights of the trip for violinist Ian Springsteen was the visit to the Sibelius Academy and the Jean Sibelius house in Finland. Sibelius, who is widely known for his symphonies and tone poems, especially "Finlandia," now ranks among Springsteen's favorite composers. It was an inspirational trip. Springsteen remembers that their group performed in...
“Music,” Abby White says, “is important to so many aspects of life. It uses so many different parts of your brain in different ways than you would get from academics. And that has really helped me in my academic success. And I think it’s just good for your soul. “Music makes us happier. And it’s something that you can really work hard on. It’s difficult, but it gives you such a sense of accomplishment when you’re able to perform something at a high-level or like get through a hard passage....
The Music Department at Niwot High School is going on a world tour - sort of. In June, the NHS choir is headed to New York and Carnegie Hall, and the orchestra is going to Finland and the Baltics. The marching band is planning to go to Walt Disney World next year. For many years, the Music Department at Niwot annually alternated which "sub-department" (choir, band, orchestra) would get to travel during the summer. In the few years preceding the pandemic, it had become common for each...
Before Joshua Ibarra-Trujillo became a musician, he was not a big music fan. "I just listened to it and didn't think much of it," Ibarra-Trujillo confessed. But in December 2019 the romantic comedy film "Como Caido del Cielo" was released, and that film became his inspiration to perform music. Omar Chaparro stars in the movie as a Mexican singer named Pedro Infante, who is sent back to Earth to earn his place in heaven. The actor became Ibarra-Trujillo's favorite performer. From there, the...
The Niwot High School Music Department hosted its annual awards night on May 3. The awards recognize music students for their dedication, commitment, and accomplishments made throughout the school year. This year had an added element of fun to the evening. Attendees of the awards night were encouraged to dress up more formally than usual for this year's event, including parents, friends, and other guests. "Other departments, when they host their end of the year celebrations, all have nice...
Music is in the air, and May is a busy and exciting month at Niwot High School. While students look forward to summer vacation, they must get through finals, choose courses for the next school year, and complete their projects and assignments. And several young men and women are busy practicing for their last concerts this year on May 17 and 18 at 6 p.m. Niwot High School has a rich and impressive music program led by devoted music directors. Robert (Wade) Hendricks directs Marching Band, Jazz...
"Ever since I was in elementary school," Najla Onofre Valles admits, "I've been wanting to use a guitar and learn how to play it. I just thought it would be something really fun to do." Valles, who was selected by NHS' Orchestra Director Keynes Chen as Arts Student of the Week, developed an interest in mariachi while she was still a student at Sunset Middle School. When the school started a mariachi class, Valles immediately signed up. "I thought it would be cool to be in a mariachi class," she...
Arts Student of the Week Mya Wells has fond memories of the music that surrounded her during her childhood in California. "My mom was born in Mexico. In the morning she'd sing mariachi songs while she made me breakfast, forcing me to dance with her," Wells recalled. Those early experiences inspired her to become a musician. "It just came very naturally to me," she said. Later, when Wells attended Westview Middle School, she took up violin. "Everyone had to choose an instrument. So I said, 'I...
Keynes Chen, the Niwot High School Orchestra Director and the Assistant Director of Band, said his student, John Hu, "has shown dedication and strong leadership ever since he was a freshman at NHS." Hu is currently a junior and the principal violist in all three of the high school orchestras including Sinfonia, Conservatory, and the Symphony Orchestra. "He always knows his music well," Chen said, "and I can definitely count on him during rehearsals and performances." It is this dedication to...
When Niwot sophomore and guitar player Drew Moore was asked to play the upright bass in the orchestra, he took on the challenge and excelled at it. This student taking on a new challenge is nothing new, according to NHS orchestra director Keynes Chen. "Not only is Drew Moore an exceptional young bassist with enthusiasm for learning orchestra, he's also a fun student and a real team player," Chen wrote in an email. "Drew has shown up wherever and whenever he is needed," Chen wrote. "Even though...
Niwot sophomore Ava Pres started playing the cello as a sixth-grader at Sunset Middle, but long before that, the instrument became a source of fascination to her, thanks to some sibling rivalry. "When I was really little, my brother started playing the cello," she said. "It was really funny, because I wasn't allowed to touch the cello that he played, so I was always really curious what it sounded like and what it would be like to play." Her brother's cello career didn't last, but Pres has made...
Evelyn Mason is a naturally gifted musician who has been playing piano and violin since a very young age. Now a junior at Niwot High, she is the longtime concertmaster for the school’s symphony orchestra, and is a “good role model for her peers”, according to director Keynes Chen. “She has consistently performed at an exemplary level,” he wrote in an email. “Her leadership contribution to our orchestra program is well noted by everyone, and she has earned the respect and love from her peers through her passion, high spirit, friendlines...
Dung Nam Pham is a gifted violinist in Niwot High's orchestra who pours his emotions into his performances. But for the school's orchestra director, Yin-Feng Keynes Chen, the senior's natural talent is just one of the attributes that make him a great musician. "He has been a very dedicated musician in our orchestra program ever since his freshman year," Chen wrote in an email. "Not only is he one of the hardest workers among his peers, his strong passion for high-level music making is quite...
Niwot sophomore Morgan Lane was a curious kindergartener the first time she heard someone play the violin. "We had show-and-tell, and one of my friends brought their violin and played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" for the class," she recalled. "And I thought it was the coolest thing. So I went home and begged my parents to let me play." That was nearly a decade ago, and Lane has been working her way toward virtuoso status ever since. Today, she is a member of two orchestral groups at Niwot...
School volunteer Lydia Moy looks at every opportunity and raises it up a notch. "Your job is not to do 10,000 cutout Valentines for second grade, your job is to spread the love," Moy said. Moy has been spreading the love for 14 years in elementary, middle and now high school. She's a realtor who used to work with emerging markets in finance, which she said helped her think about the big picture, "I'm a long term person." That mentality influences the way she approaches volunteering. When she...
Keynes Chen stands in his small office in the band and orchestra room practicing his violin. His concentration and dedication to his craft are clear to see by the way he holds his violin gently. His voice is soft as he shares his past: an upbringing shaped by violinist parents, beginning to learn the same instrument himself before the age of five, later studying at the University of Colorado Boulder, and eventually starting his own music school before transitioning to teaching orchestra at Niwot...
