Private Schools for Performing & Fine Arts in Cranford, Westfield, Scotch Plains
Source: http://www.whschool.org/arts/performing-arts
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:18
Private Schools for Performing & Fine Arts in Cranford, Westfield, Scotch Plains
Summer Programs
Performing Arts
Our goal for W+H music students is to develop a life-long love of music, encouraging musical enjoyment and participation long after the students leave the school. They broaden their appreciation for the power and importance of music through reading music notation, listening to and talking about music critically, and participating in authentic performing experiences through a wide range of musical styles and contexts.
Early Childhood
Lower School
Middle School
Upper School
Early Childhood
Music participation is important to each student's development. It provides a unique way of knowing oneself and appreciating the world. Students in Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten discover a wide variety of musical styles through an activity-centered approach. Through the implementation of the First Steps in Music curriculum developed by Dr. John Feierabend, students participate in vocal exploration, singing, expressive movement, beat keeping, and active listening activities during every class. They develop the foundation on which future music literacy is built. The Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten music curriculum is grounded in research on music cognition, and engages students in active music making.
Lower School
Students in First Grade complete the final year of the First Steps in Music curriculum. Students in Second through Fifth Grades begin to build music literacy through the use of the Conversational Solfege curriculum. Through this instruction, students internalize rhythmic and melodic elements before moving on to improvisation, reading and composition. The nurturing of the child's enjoyment, responsiveness, and sensitivity to music is always at the core of the Music curriculum. Through musical immersion, we help students to be a musician in a part of a larger musical community.
Middle School
Middle Schools musicians experience a performance-based curriculum designed to enhance music literacy skills while in an ensemble setting. Students focus on developing their executive skills and performance technique while playing band instruments and singing together. Building upon the Lower School curriculum, students in Grades Six through Eight continue to develop their music literacy skills through the Conversational Solfege method in their vocal music classes. Middle School students have additional opportunities to perform in the annual Middle School musical, the Winter and Spring Concerts, Middle School Rising Stars, and more.
Upper School
Through more advanced repertoire, Upper School musicians experience a performance-based curriculum designed to enhance music literacy skills while in an ensemble setting. Students interested in deepening their music literacy may enroll in our music theory classes. Upper School Performing Arts curricular courses are elective. In addition to pursuing the Concert Band or the Jazz Band, students have the opportunity to enroll in Concert Choir, MadJazz, Fundamentals of Music Theory, or Advanced Placement Music Theory. Even if students are not taking Performing Arts classes during the school day, there are additional opportunities to perform through the Fall Play, Spring Musical, Instrumental Chamber Ensemble, Jazz Workshop, and more. There are always opportunities to share one's talents in front of an audience.
Performing Arts Schedules, Productions & Lessons
Jazz Band
Early Childhood
Lower School
Middle School
Upper School
Early Childhood Enrichment Program Trimester After School Classes
Get Up and Dance
Little Theatre
Move & Groove
Bollywood Dancing
Encore Adventure Clubs Seasonal Enrichment Classes
Improvisational Acting Class
Screenwriting Class
Private Music Lessons with the Rutgers Community Arts Program
Middle School Sports - Fifth Grade Only
Creative Movement Class
Fifth Grade Annual Broadway Music Field Trip
Spring Recital
Creative Movement Class
Vocal Ensemble
Middle School Jazz Band
Middle School Musical
Spring Recital
Fall Play & Spring Musical
Instrumental Chamber Ensemble
Jazz Workshop
Audition forRegion II and NJ All State Ensembles
Jazz at Lincoln Center Field Trip
Metropolitan Opera Field Trip
Spring Recital
Cookin' Cabaret
In the Fall of 2017, the Wardlaw+Hartridge Performing Arts Department began our Private Music Lesson Program (PMLP), offering private music lessons to our students on their concert band instrument and voice after school. These lessons take place right here on campus. This program grew out of the desire to offer our students top-drawer music instruction from highly trained professional musicians on a one-to-one basis. Students who participate in our PMLP deepen and expand upon the instruction they receive during their regular Performing Arts Department activities.
The PMLP Faculty hold advanced degrees in their instrumental or vocal disciplines and are active professionally as performers and teaching artists.
Upper School Musical
Spring 2020
Upper School Play
Fall 2018
Upper School Play
Fall 2016
Middle School Musical
Winter 2019
Upper School Play
Fall 2017
Middle School Musical
Fall 2017
Upper School Musical
Spring 2018
Upper School Musical
Spring 2019
Middle School Musical
Fall 2019
Upper School Play
Fall 2019
Upper School Play
Fall 2022
Upper School Musical
Spring 2022
Upper School Play
Fall 2021
Upper School Musical
Spring 2023
Middle School Musical
Fall 2022
Middle School Musical
Spring 2022
Sharon Byrne
Performing Arts Depart. Chair, Vocal Music Teacher MS/US
Bio
Sharon Byrne joined the W+H School in 2009 after teaching at Millburn Middle and High School and Centennial School District. She earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Westminster Choir College and Master of Music Education degree from Shenandoah Conservatory. Mrs. Byrne directs six middle school and upper school choirs and teaches AP Music Theory in additi on to being the Performing Arts Chairperson. She facilitates the theatrical performances including preparing the singers and directing the spring musical pit band. She performs widely in the tri-state area as a mezzo-soprano soloist and choral singer. She has had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center many times, has performed on stage with The Rolling Stones and can be heard on several professional recordings, three of which have received Grammy nominations. One of those nominations was The Crossing Choir and New York Philharmonic’s performance of "Fire in My Mouth" by Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Julia Wolfe. Mrs. Byrne's goal for the W+H music students is to develop a life-long love of music, encouraging musical enjoyment and participation long after the students leave the school.
Julian Jenson
Collaborative Pianist
Bio
Julian Jenson joined W+H in 2021 as a staff pianist, accompanying the Upper, Middle, and Lower School choirs, and supplying other pianistic needs for the school. Hailing from a musical family in Southern California, Mr. Jenson has performed around the world in concert halls, schools, hospitals, churches, and other venues. He has toured in Chile, Italy, Iceland, Japan, and throughout the United States. In addition to live performance, Mr. Jenson has also played piano on the radio, TV, and other media. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with choirs, orchestras, small groups, and given numerous solo recitals and lectures. His interest in education began while earning his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from La Sierra University in Riverside, CA, where he worked as a teaching assistant. Since then, he has furthered his education with two master degrees—in music theory (Florida State University '20), then in Piano Performance (The New School, '22)—so he could empower the next generation of piano students. Mr. Jenson teaches private lessons through a studio he runs with his wife, Susana Leiva. Together they both believe in the philosophy of teaching students to cultivate their own "voice" in their musical pursuits, and to develop a well-rounded musicianship.
Tim Burke
Instrumental Music
Teacher MS & US
Bio
Tim Burke
joined Wardlaw+Hartridge in 2024 as the Lower, Middle, and Upper School band teacher. Mr. Burke has more than 10 years of music education experience. Mr. Burke also freelances around Metropolitan area as a tuba player. His most recent roles include high school band and music theory teacher. Mr. Burke graduated from Rutgers University with both a Bachelor’s degree in music education and a Master’s degree in wind band conducting.
Alex Nappi
Berry Performing Arts Center Manager
Bio
Alex Nappi joined W+H in 2023 as Sound Designer for the Upper School's spring production of
Into the Woods
and is now the current Performing Arts Center Manager. In this role, he leads the strategic planning, operations, and maintenance of the Berry Performing Arts Center. He also trains our student technical theatre team in lighting and sound design. Alex is the resident sound mixer for Middlesex County's Plays-in-the-Park. Prior to W+H, Alex enjoyed the privilege of working as an audio engineer at the legendary Magic Shop recording studio in NYC, before its closing. He is certainly no stranger to the theatre as he has experience both on and off the stage as a performer and technical theatre designer throughout the Tri-state area.
Shannon Sari
Lower School
Music Teacher
Bio
Shannon Sari joined the W+H faculty as a Lower School Music Teacher in 2011. She earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and has experience teaching in grades PreK through 8th grade. During her teaching career, she has continued learning and developing as a teacher by completing training in the Kodaly and Orff methodologies (the former being vocal-based and the latter instrumental). In addition, Mrs. Sari is certified in John Feierabend’s First Steps in Music Education and Conversational Solfege curriculums. While at W+H, Mrs. Sari created a Lower School ukulele curriculum for grades 4 and 5, and runs a summer Dungeons and Dragons camp for Lower and Middle School students.
Summer Programs
Performing Arts
Our goal for W+H music students is to develop a life-long love of music, encouraging musical enjoyment and participation long after the students leave the school. They broaden their appreciation for the power and importance of music through reading music notation, listening to and talking about music critically, and participating in authentic performing experiences through a wide range of musical styles and contexts.
Early Childhood
Lower School
Middle School
Upper School
Early Childhood
Music participation is important to each student's development. It provides a unique way of knowing oneself and appreciating the world. Students in Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten discover a wide variety of musical styles through an activity-centered approach. Through the implementation of the First Steps in Music curriculum developed by Dr. John Feierabend, students participate in vocal exploration, singing, expressive movement, beat keeping, and active listening activities during every class. They develop the foundation on which future music literacy is built. The Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten, and Kindergarten music curriculum is grounded in research on music cognition, and engages students in active music making.
Lower School
Students in First Grade complete the final year of the First Steps in Music curriculum. Students in Second through Fifth Grades begin to build music literacy through the use of the Conversational Solfege curriculum. Through this instruction, students internalize rhythmic and melodic elements before moving on to improvisation, reading and composition. The nurturing of the child's enjoyment, responsiveness, and sensitivity to music is always at the core of the Music curriculum. Through musical immersion, we help students to be a musician in a part of a larger musical community.
Middle School
Middle Schools musicians experience a performance-based curriculum designed to enhance music literacy skills while in an ensemble setting. Students focus on developing their executive skills and performance technique while playing band instruments and singing together. Building upon the Lower School curriculum, students in Grades Six through Eight continue to develop their music literacy skills through the Conversational Solfege method in their vocal music classes. Middle School students have additional opportunities to perform in the annual Middle School musical, the Winter and Spring Concerts, Middle School Rising Stars, and more.
Upper School
Through more advanced repertoire, Upper School musicians experience a performance-based curriculum designed to enhance music literacy skills while in an ensemble setting. Students interested in deepening their music literacy may enroll in our music theory classes. Upper School Performing Arts curricular courses are elective. In addition to pursuing the Concert Band or the Jazz Band, students have the opportunity to enroll in Concert Choir, MadJazz, Fundamentals of Music Theory, or Advanced Placement Music Theory. Even if students are not taking Performing Arts classes during the school day, there are additional opportunities to perform through the Fall Play, Spring Musical, Instrumental Chamber Ensemble, Jazz Workshop, and more. There are always opportunities to share one's talents in front of an audience.
Performing Arts Schedules, Productions & Lessons
Jazz Band
Early Childhood
Lower School
Middle School
Upper School
Early Childhood Enrichment Program Trimester After School Classes
Get Up and Dance
Little Theatre
Move & Groove
Bollywood Dancing
Encore Adventure Clubs Seasonal Enrichment Classes
Improvisational Acting Class
Screenwriting Class
Private Music Lessons with the Rutgers Community Arts Program
Middle School Sports - Fifth Grade Only
Creative Movement Class
Fifth Grade Annual Broadway Music Field Trip
Spring Recital
Creative Movement Class
Vocal Ensemble
Middle School Jazz Band
Middle School Musical
Spring Recital
Fall Play & Spring Musical
Instrumental Chamber Ensemble
Jazz Workshop
Audition forRegion II and NJ All State Ensembles
Jazz at Lincoln Center Field Trip
Metropolitan Opera Field Trip
Spring Recital
Cookin' Cabaret
In the Fall of 2017, the Wardlaw+Hartridge Performing Arts Department began our Private Music Lesson Program (PMLP), offering private music lessons to our students on their concert band instrument and voice after school. These lessons take place right here on campus. This program grew out of the desire to offer our students top-drawer music instruction from highly trained professional musicians on a one-to-one basis. Students who participate in our PMLP deepen and expand upon the instruction they receive during their regular Performing Arts Department activities.
The PMLP Faculty hold advanced degrees in their instrumental or vocal disciplines and are active professionally as performers and teaching artists.
Upper School Musical
Spring 2020
Upper School Play
Fall 2018
Upper School Play
Fall 2016
Middle School Musical
Winter 2019
Upper School Play
Fall 2017
Middle School Musical
Fall 2017
Upper School Musical
Spring 2018
Upper School Musical
Spring 2019
Middle School Musical
Fall 2019
Upper School Play
Fall 2019
Upper School Play
Fall 2022
Upper School Musical
Spring 2022
Upper School Play
Fall 2021
Upper School Musical
Spring 2023
Middle School Musical
Fall 2022
Middle School Musical
Spring 2022
Sharon Byrne
Performing Arts Depart. Chair, Vocal Music Teacher MS/US
Bio
Sharon Byrne joined the W+H School in 2009 after teaching at Millburn Middle and High School and Centennial School District. She earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Westminster Choir College and Master of Music Education degree from Shenandoah Conservatory. Mrs. Byrne directs six middle school and upper school choirs and teaches AP Music Theory in additi on to being the Performing Arts Chairperson. She facilitates the theatrical performances including preparing the singers and directing the spring musical pit band. She performs widely in the tri-state area as a mezzo-soprano soloist and choral singer. She has had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center many times, has performed on stage with The Rolling Stones and can be heard on several professional recordings, three of which have received Grammy nominations. One of those nominations was The Crossing Choir and New York Philharmonic’s performance of "Fire in My Mouth" by Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Julia Wolfe. Mrs. Byrne's goal for the W+H music students is to develop a life-long love of music, encouraging musical enjoyment and participation long after the students leave the school.
Julian Jenson
Collaborative Pianist
Bio
Julian Jenson joined W+H in 2021 as a staff pianist, accompanying the Upper, Middle, and Lower School choirs, and supplying other pianistic needs for the school. Hailing from a musical family in Southern California, Mr. Jenson has performed around the world in concert halls, schools, hospitals, churches, and other venues. He has toured in Chile, Italy, Iceland, Japan, and throughout the United States. In addition to live performance, Mr. Jenson has also played piano on the radio, TV, and other media. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with choirs, orchestras, small groups, and given numerous solo recitals and lectures. His interest in education began while earning his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from La Sierra University in Riverside, CA, where he worked as a teaching assistant. Since then, he has furthered his education with two master degrees—in music theory (Florida State University '20), then in Piano Performance (The New School, '22)—so he could empower the next generation of piano students. Mr. Jenson teaches private lessons through a studio he runs with his wife, Susana Leiva. Together they both believe in the philosophy of teaching students to cultivate their own "voice" in their musical pursuits, and to develop a well-rounded musicianship.
Tim Burke
Instrumental Music
Teacher MS & US
Bio
Tim Burke
joined Wardlaw+Hartridge in 2024 as the Lower, Middle, and Upper School band teacher. Mr. Burke has more than 10 years of music education experience. Mr. Burke also freelances around Metropolitan area as a tuba player. His most recent roles include high school band and music theory teacher. Mr. Burke graduated from Rutgers University with both a Bachelor’s degree in music education and a Master’s degree in wind band conducting.
Alex Nappi
Berry Performing Arts Center Manager
Bio
Alex Nappi joined W+H in 2023 as Sound Designer for the Upper School's spring production of
Into the Woods
and is now the current Performing Arts Center Manager. In this role, he leads the strategic planning, operations, and maintenance of the Berry Performing Arts Center. He also trains our student technical theatre team in lighting and sound design. Alex is the resident sound mixer for Middlesex County's Plays-in-the-Park. Prior to W+H, Alex enjoyed the privilege of working as an audio engineer at the legendary Magic Shop recording studio in NYC, before its closing. He is certainly no stranger to the theatre as he has experience both on and off the stage as a performer and technical theatre designer throughout the Tri-state area.
Shannon Sari
Lower School
Music Teacher
Bio
Shannon Sari joined the W+H faculty as a Lower School Music Teacher in 2011. She earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and has experience teaching in grades PreK through 8th grade. During her teaching career, she has continued learning and developing as a teacher by completing training in the Kodaly and Orff methodologies (the former being vocal-based and the latter instrumental). In addition, Mrs. Sari is certified in John Feierabend’s First Steps in Music Education and Conversational Solfege curriculums. While at W+H, Mrs. Sari created a Lower School ukulele curriculum for grades 4 and 5, and runs a summer Dungeons and Dragons camp for Lower and Middle School students.