Our roundup of the latest Wellesley, Mass., arts news:

Public school musicians selected

Congratulations to Wellesley High and Middle School musicians chosen for eastern district and all-state ensembles, per the Parents of Performing Students Facebook page.

2019 WHS grad Alex Stoddard producing off the court

Williams College student Alex Stoddard, a 2019 Wellesley High grad, tells The Williams Record that he got his start producing in 9th grade, and now his work with hip-hop artists is earning him awards.

If Drake is reading this, and of course he’s a big Swellesley fan, know that Stoddard (aka, A$tod) hopes to work with you one day.

astoddard — WHS 2019 grad Alex Stoddard (photo courtesy of Spencer Spivy)

In the meantime, according to The Record profile on Stoddard, he has been making a name for himself in music circle working with artists such as Yung Bleu, OMB Peezy, and Rod Wave. All this while taking care of academics and playing on the varsity basketball team.

A well-rounded young man, indeed.

Dana Hall’s annual Nexus dance concert open to the public

Dana Hall Dance presents its annual dance concert, Nexus, on Friday, March 4, and Saturday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m., in Bardwell Auditorium. The
performances are free and open to the public.

“Our annual dance concert is a unique experience,” said Director of Dance Devon Fitchett, in a statement. “It is rare at the high school level for students and faculty to come together and show work in a formal theater setting with costumes and lights. This is the most exciting
time of year for our program, as the culmination of the students’ hard work, talent and passion comes to life on stage.”

This marks the school’s first live dance performance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program includes works in modern, musical theater dance, contemporary, ballet, African diasporic dance, jazz, hip hop, and tap.

Bardwell Auditorium is located on the Dana Hall campus at 37 Cameron St. Bardwell is not wheelchair accessible. For more information, please contact
Devon Fitchett at devon.fitchett@danahall.org.

Wellesley Theatre Project makes mark at Junior Theater Festival

Wellesley Theatre Project’s audition-only IMPACT! group was the only outfit from Massachusetts to attend the recent Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta, and it came away with awards. The event attracted 5,300 participants from 110 groups, with 31 states, and several other countries represented.

At the festival, each group performed 15 minutes of a Broadway Junior musical for judges, with WTP presenting Mary Poppin, Jr. WTP also performed during the New Works Showcase.

Alex Irwin, a freshman at Wayland High School, won a Freddie G Award for Outstanding Performance by an Individual. Lexi Greeley, a 7th grader at Wayland Middle School, and Alex Ho, a 7th grader at The Rivers School, won All-Star Awards. Arabella Hardgrave, a 7th grader at Wellesley Middle School, Lydia Harrison, a 6th grader at Wellesley Middle School and Andrew Ho, a freshman at Rivers, made it to the callback for future video shoots for “how-to” choreography videos.