Students in Melanie Freyre’s East Hampton Middle School chorus took part in an online songwriting workshop last week with Jim Papoulis, an acclaimed composer whose work has been featured at the Beijing Olympics, the 2008 presidential inauguration, the World Cup, and elsewhere internationally.
During the workshop, students shared their ideas on lyrics, tempo, form, and dynamics to develop their own original song. According to an announcement from the school, students will be “working with professionally produced practice tracks and making recordings of their voice parts. Mr. Papoulis will then mix them together to create a final recording, which will be released to the school and community very soon.”
Sag Harbor Student Earns Scholarship from LongHouse
Gianna Ekstra, a senior at Pierson High School, is the recipient of the 2020 Ray Smith and Associates LongHouse Reserve Scholarship. Gianna is a prolific and award-winning artist who does printmaking, fashion design, and photography. She will attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan after she graduates, and says she hopes to combine art and her love of nature in her own clothing line.
East Hampton Plans $71.98 Mil Budget
The East Hampton School Board has decided to put before voters a $71.98 million spending plan for the 2020-21 school year.
The budget was adopted unanimously Tuesday night during a live-streamed board meeting. The final public budget workshop was held on March 10, but further budget details were unavailable as of yesterday.
The spending plan includes money for a new synthetic-turf sports field and for renovations to the Middle School auditorium.
A live-streamed virtual public hearing is planned for Monday, June 1, at 6 p.m. A full report on the school budget will appear in next week’s Star.