By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
With a little creativity coupled with a passion for the arts, Mayor Dorinda Borer has facilitated an $8,000 donation to West Haven High School to help fund a St. Patrick’s Day performance in New York City for the choral department and new instruments for the band.
Borer recently presented a pair of $4,000 checks to West Haven High choral director Jason Thomas and band director Donata Lupacchino-Nelsen in the school auditorium, where Scott Shand, the school district’s fine arts coordinator, and retired city Human Resources Commissioner Beth A. Sabo accompanied the group and applauded the mayor’s generous gift.
The $8,000 donation, in the form of ceremonial oversize checks, was made possible by the ticket sale proceeds from the New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s “Holiday Extravaganza: Joy to the World!” concert, which was presented by Borer’s arts initiative on Dec. 13 in the auditorium.
The mayor used funding from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act Arts Fund to bring the symphony to the auditorium and in turn charged a modest ticket price with 100% of the proceeds benefiting students.
Thomas thanked Borer and said he plans to use the money to help pay for a March 17 performance at Manhattan’s Carnegie Hall that will also feature other advanced high school choral students from across the country.
Lupacchino-Nelsen, who was equally grateful to Borer, said she plans to use the money to buy a tuba and a baritone saxophone for the band’s repertoire.
As part of their partnership with West Haven High, Borer and Sabo, who volunteers with the mayor’s office, also purchased new instruments for Lupacchino-Nelsen’s Advanced Placement music theory class, including an 88-key Yamaha P-S500 smart digital piano and a 34-inch Zildjian orchestral gong with a heavy-duty stand.
Borer and Sabo also arranged for a symphony member to read a story through music to students of Washington Elementary School on Nov. 25.
The symphony’s Pops Series performance, conducted by Chelsea Tipton II, brought the music and magic of the holiday season to West Haven High for a special concert that benefited the arts and filled the auditorium with more than 450 resident concertgoers.
“Families and friends came together to experience the joy of holiday music from around the world in Connecticut’s favorite festive tradition!” the NHSO said in a statement.
Borer noted that residents can expect to see that tradition continue this December, when the symphony is slated to return to West Haven High for another holiday concert.
“The feedback from this event was tremendous and was one of my personal highlights of the holiday season,” the mayor said. “Working on this project with Beth was a lot of fun and was very rewarding. Being able to be a part of a great concert and have donations be designated for our students was a win-win all around.”
The New Haven Symphony is America’s fourth-oldest orchestra, founded in 1894.
For more than a century, the NHSO has continued the traditions of performance and education by supporting programs in schools and communities and presenting classical repertoire and pops concerts.
The symphony has performed regularly in New Haven and toured throughout Connecticut and beyond, including concerts at New York’s Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. It has also given numerous radio broadcasts.