HARPing up excitement for Harwood Union High’s Music & Theatre Department

September 3, 2025 | By Harmony Devoe, Maddie Stephan and Acer Thompson

Editor’s Note: The following was written by three Harwood Union H.S. students looking back at highlights of the 2024-25 school year for the school’s music and theater programs with an eye toward HARP, the project now underway to revitalize the school auditorium. See more on the project website harpvt.org.

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There is always so much to celebrate in the Harwood Union High School Music and Theatre Department, and the 2024-25 school year was no different. 

From launching the new Harwood Auditorium Revitalization Project – named HARP for short – to the countless hours put into performances, auditions, festivals, and so much more. One thing is clear: the school year was one to remember.

“The Harwood Music Department community is amazing. It's such a supportive community to be around,” said freshman Robin Weigand. 

Last fall, the school play was an adaptation of “Treasure Island” brought to the Harwood stage for a unique theater-in-the-round experience. Families, friends, and community members from all over our district came together to show support for all of the talented and dedicated kids involved in the production. In the spring, Harwood Theatre produced and performed the hit musical “Anything Goes.” People from all over the state came to Harwood to watch the beloved golden age comedy. 

During each school year, Harwood students have the opportunity to audition for multiple music festivals that take place all over New England, from the Winooski Valley District Festival, which had 28 Harwood participants last fall, to the highly competitive New England Music Festival which hosted eight HU students. Students spent months preparing (with help from music teachers and faculty) for their auditions and performances at these incredible festivals. Once at these festivals, students get to practice, work with guest conductors, and participate in a festival performance. 

The Harwood Assembly Band is well-known in the Harwood community and a big part of the Music Department. Being a part of the Assembly Band is seen as one of the highest achievements for student musicians, with many students aspiring to be part of the band someday. Auditions are held in the spring, where the following year's band roster is established. In 2024-25, the Assembly Band had the opportunity to perform at Higher Ground, Lawsons, Burlington Jazz Festival, and Zenbarn. More opportunities arise for the band every year, and we can’t wait to see where they play next. 

Every year, the Music Department puts on multiple concerts to highlight the hard work that students put into the chorus and band classes that are offered during the school day. At these concerts, students perform music that they have spent months working on with Molly (Clark) Desrochers, the chorus and vocal teacher, and Brian Boyes, the band and instrumental teacher.

Harwood's honors chorus, called I Cantori, often performs at these concerts, too. This is an after-school, audition-based, select ensemble that hones the school’s most talented group of vocalists. It is a goal of many students to be accepted into this ensemble during their time at Harwood. At the spring chorus concert, beautiful pieces of artwork, quilts, and other crafts were silently auctioned off with all proceeds going to HARP. 

The lesson program at Harwood brings private music instructors to the school once a week for 35-minute individual lessons for students to grow their skills outside of the classroom. A variety of lessons are offered, including voice, guitar, bass, percussion, piano, and more. In 2024-25, 86 students took private lessons. Many students receive scholarships to help cover the lesson costs, and the popular annual citrus sale helps fund these scholarships.

The Harwood Auditorium Revitalization Project is an initiative founded by the Harwood Music and Theatre faculty and staff in hopes of raising funds to upgrade the auditorium. The Harwood auditorium hasn’t had any major upgrades done since 1997 and is in need of upgrades. 

“If we manage to make enough money, having a legal and safe light system would be really cool. And, if you stand in the back of the auditorium, you can hear it reverberating from the entire room,” said sophomore Julia Wulff. 

The planned upgrades would help maintain all of the amazing events, productions, concerts, etc. that make Harwood Music stand out in Vermont and allow the Music and Theatre departments to continue to thrive and grow. 

“The Harwood Music Department has been a forerunner for popular music education in the state of Vermont,” Desrochers said. 

HARP focuses on raising money for new sound and lighting gear, along with microphones, a new curtain, and more necessary equipment. Our hope is that the HARP campaign will allow us to upgrade our sound system and to install acoustic treatment to help absorb and diffuse sound in the space. These things are a necessity for maintaining the space and elevating performances for current and future students and generations to come. 

So 2024-25 was a wild and successful year for the Harwood Music Department and it is just going to keep getting better and better. From all of the amazing performances to the creation of HARP, the year was the beginning of a long and important journey for the department. We hope that people in the community will watch for future events in support of HARP and continue to support all of the kids who dedicate themselves and their time at Harwood to the Music Department. 

Harmony Devoe, Maddie Stephan and Acer Thompson are Harwood music and theater students.