Performing Arts
Brentwood School believes that the creative process is an important aspect of a liberal arts education. Students engage in projects that require rethinking, refining, revising, and rehearsing.
The Performing Arts program at Brentwood School offers a supportive atmosphere that promotes questioning, individuality, and diversity. Students participating in this program are guided by faculty members who are engaged in the creative process themselves, each in their individual art forms.
The Upper Division Performing Arts Department provides a wide variety of opportunities for students at every level. All class ensembles perform regularly on and off campus, and there are extra-curricular opportunities that range from the fully produced play and musical to small lunchtime performances, performances at games and assemblies, and special presentations in the Student Life Center.
The Upper Division Dance Program offers an exciting and comprehensive curriculum with a variety of opportunities for students – whether beginners or advanced – to choreograph and perform.
Daily technique classes range in style from classical ballet to modern jazz. From these classes, exceptional students are encouraged to audition for the Brentwood Dance Company (BDC), our repertory company.
The BDC performs two concerts each year and at many events, on and off campus. The first concert focuses on dances of World Cultures and features faculty and guest choreography. The final concert represents a compilation of student choreography, lighting, and sound.
The Upper Division Play is open to all students in grades 9-12. The timing of the play and musical alternate each year between the fall and spring so that students who participate in sports have a chance to audition for one or the other in their off season.
Recent productions include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, All My Sons, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Macbeth and The Misanthrope.
Upper Division students have the opportunity to participate in choral music as members of the Brentwood Women’s Choir and/or the Brentwood Concert Singers.
The Women's Choir is a select group of singers who focus on choral music arranged for female voices. The group performs in two formal concerts per year as well as at various benefits and school events. Twice a year, soloists from The Women's Choir perform at recitals called Salons.
Our Concert Singers is a select group of both male and female singers who focus primarily on a cappella music from medieval to modern styles. The group performs in two formal concerts per year as well as at various benefits and school events. Throughout the year, members of the Concert Singers perform at lunch and recital salons.
The Upper Division Orchestra is open, by audition, to students in grades 9-12. Many opportunities exist for significant individual growth. The Orchestra has two formal concerts per year as well as various recitals and lunchtime performances.
Jazz I and II are performing ensembles that focus on music theory, jazz improvisation, repertoire, and jazz history. Students learn improvisational methods andinterpretation of chord symbols, and they gain knowledge of important musicians and their work. Students registering for jazz band are proficient in basic musicianship skills (sight-reading, tuning, major and minor scales, and basic technique) and have a strong interest in jazz. Open to Upper Division students, the bands perform once each semester at Brentwood School and throughout the year at various venues around Los Angeles, including the Jazz Bakery.
Our various Upper Division music ensembles travel to festival and other events to perform and be evaluated by professional adjudicators. In April 2006, our Orchestra, Concert Singers, and Women’s Choir combined their musical talents to win the prestigious “Sweepstakes Trophy” at the Heritage Music Festival in San Francisco. The Brentwood School Music Department competed against schools from across the country and was honored for the Best Overall Music Program.
The technical aspects of theater are studied and practiced in the Technical Theater and Advanced Production courses. In the beginning course, students learn the principles of stagecraft and then set to work designing, building, and running the productions for that year. Advanced students are selected for major responsibilities in stage management, design, lighting, and assistant direction for various productions.
The Upper Division Musical is open all students in grades 9-12. The timing of the musical alternates each year between the Fall and Spring with the play so that students who participate in sports might have a chance to audition for one or the other in their off season.
Recent productions include Into the Woods, Gypsy, The Boyfriend, Little Shop of Horrors, West Side Story and Guys and Dolls.
Our Upper Division theater program seeks to expose students to the powerful and lively experience of theater, both as participants and as audience members.
Year-long acting courses offer the basics of actor training and acting technique, culminating in public performances.
History of Theater III/IV are acting classes in American plays. Students perform a drama in the fall and a comedy in the spring. Recent plays include The Children's Hour and Baby with the Bathwater
The Brentwood Theater Company (BTC) is a year-long ensemble honors course open by audition to juniors and seniors who complete at least one full year of acting class. BTC is dedicated to creating ensemble and non-traditional theater. Recent examples include: Brecht on Brecht, Uncommon Women and Others, King Lear, Man of La Mancha, The Laramie Project, Assassins, and The Accident.
The BTC has twice participated in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. The first time was with an original play, The Accident, and most recently with Brecth on Brecht
