Unique Festival Brings Big Musical Acts To Stamford School

STAMFORD, CT — On Wednesday, students at Westhill High School had the opportunity to get out of the classroom for the day and enjoy a two-hour concert and festival celebrating music and the arts. The outdoor event offered students a number of fun activities, as well as musical performances from seven different artists.

The festival was part of the fall 2019 installment of The High School Nation Tour, which aims to support creative expression among teens through musical festivals and other programming, as well as bring awareness of the arts to schools.

"I think this was the best thing to ever happen at Westhill in my four years being here," senior Tylon Cobbs, 18, said during the event. "Nothing like this has ever happened here before, so I think it's a great experience. I think this will help other students get their music out there, maybe help them be more confident about their music."

According to Director of Artist Relations Dirk Otis, Westhill is one of only two schools in the state to receive a visit from High School Nation this year. They are scheduled to visit 40 schools in total across the country this fall.

"The idea is to come in and have the whole student body enjoy the positive influence of live music, and for the performing arts students to get to see all the jobs there are surrounding this," Otis said to Patch. "There's a lot of 'rah-rah-rah' events around athletics and academics in high school, and we want to have a big event that celebrates the performing arts."

Artists performing included:

• Michah Blu
• Natalie Claro
• Almost Monday
• Jenna Raine
• Go Go Gadjet
• Jules Walcott
• CARYS

"This is such an amazing opportunity," said district IEP Compliance Coordinator Dani Cohen, who helped organize the event. "It's extremely generous of High School Nation, the artists and the different sponsors to do something like this for our diverse community, who may not have ever been to a concert or might not know different aspects of what's offered in this industry."

Aside from musical performances, students had an opportunity to jam on either guitar, bass or a drum set with their peers or professional musicians under the Guitar Center tent.

Also on hand was Liz LeGrande, a backup dancer who has worked with a number of famous artists, including Beyonce and Usher. LeGrande worked with a group of students to come up with a dance routine to be performed at the end of the concert.

Sponsors for the event included Hollister, Guitar Center, Takis and Truth, an anti-smoking and vaping organization.

Principal Michael Rinaldi said he was happy to have an event at the school that showcased the arts.

"Stamford [schools] in general emphasize the arts," Rinaldi said. "I just think when opportunities present themselves to emphasize them a little bit more, you have to take advantage of it."

Rinaldi also said the school would receive a donation of $2,000 worth of equipment from High School Nation.

"Once our music and drama departments get a hold of that equipment, the sky's the limit," Rinaldi said. "There's endless opportunities there."