From Vivaldi to Hollywood, Spring Serenade Showcases Canterbury Musicians

As the sun began to set on the evening of May 8, beautiful music could be heard coming from the Chapel of Our Lady. This year’s Spring Serenade, one of the last concerts of the school year, was a celebration of songs from opera, Broadway musicals, movies, East Asian pop, and, of course, Canterbury’s outstanding student musicians.

Performing Arts teacher Hafez Taghavi served as the evening’s conductor, leading the Orchestra and Chamber Ensemble through the Overture from Georges Bizet’s Carmen, Concerto No. 1 in E Major (“Spring”) by Antonio Vivaldi, and Hacken Li’s Half Moon Serenade.

The orchestra also joined Canterbury Singers and Varsity Voices—led by Performing Arts Chair Christopher Rich—for moving renditions of “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman and “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther. Varsity Voices also performed an a cappella rendition of “Take This Gift,” with Miguel Garcia ’26 adding vocal percussion.

The evening also included incredible solo performances from vocalists Yuge “Ingrid” Fu ’26 (“Empty World” by Karen Mok) and Alana Barton ’29 (“Sunday in the Park with George” by Stephen Sondheim) and guitarist Guanlin “Kevin” Wu ’28 (“Love Confession” by Jay Chou).

Before the final number—“Go the Distance” from Disney’s Hercules—performed by Canterbury Singers, Varsity Voices, Orchestra, and Community Choir, Mr. Rich acknowledged Sidney “Sid” Howland, a member of the Community Choir who, after serving 35 years as a groundskeeper at Canterbury, will retire this summer, and all of the seniors performing in their last concert at Canterbury.

Yuge “Ingrid” Fu ’26
Miguel Garcia ’26
Zeba Ahmed ’26
Andres Wright ’26

Congratulations to all of our fantastic performers!

Chamber Ensemble
Violin: Guanlin “Kevin” Wu ’28
Flute: Yuge “Ingrid” Fu ’26, Yiming “Caleb” Sun ’28
Cello: Lee Liu ’29
Piano: Yilin “Louis” Wu ’28

Orchestra
Violin: Guanlin “Kevin” Wu ’28
Viola: Sophia Johnson ’29
Cello: Lee Liu ’29
Flute: Nora Merkel ’29
Oboe: Eber Guo ’28
Clarinet: Yichen “Justin” Bai ’27
Alto Sax: Dawei “David” Wu ’29  
Piano: Yilin “Louis” Wu ’28
Harp: Yuning “Donna” Zhang ’28

Canterbury Singers
Soprano: Alyssa Cole ’29, Alexandra Hill ’29, Marygrace Hussey ’27
Alto: Zeba Ahmed ’26, Jialing “Jolin” Cao ’28, Milena Majeski ’29, Yutong “Coco” Zhou ’27
Bass: Jacob Murphy ’27

Varsity Voices
Director: Christopher Rich
Soprano: Yuge “Ingrid” Fu ’26, Sophia Zheng ’27
Alto: Natalie Hraska ’28
Baritone: Zachary Mwanza ’27, Andres Wright ’26

Canterbury Community Choir
Soprano: Anne DeSousa, Jamie Kenney
Alto: Ashley Hassiak, MaryBridget Horvath ’20, Elyse Soifersmith P ’27, ’27
Baritone/Bass: Sidney Howland

The vocal program at Canterbury School is supported by the Gerald A. and Therese J. Vanasse Choral Endowment Fund and the Stephen N. and Lacey Hume Music Fund.