“Aside from a superior teaching faculty and an overwhelmingly talented body of students, it was the challenging and artistically ambitious nature of the Performing Arts Department that inspired me most.”
Joel Johnstone, ’97 Pius Graduate, now a professional actor in NYC
The Performing Arts Program is designed to:
- Help you understand and experience the collaborative nature of group performance.
- Give you the technical and interpretive tools to communicate effectively through your medium of performance.
- Empower you to develop your own life-long relationship with and passion for the performing arts, whether as a performer, creator or supporter.
- Inspire you with the example of the passion and dedication of the faculty and other students in the program.
- Be taken for four years, but a student may begin study in any year. Many colleges have fine arts requirements for admissions and scholarship opportunities. Involvement in performing arts classes enriches your overall experience and enhances your resume or portfolio for college entrance. There are many opportunities from the introductory to the advanced level for additional studies, including private vocal and instrumental instruction. In addition, you are encouraged to write, direct, choreograph, compose and produce your own creations.
Instrumental and Vocal Music
Our Program has a tradition of excellence that is rich in its history and achievements. Our ensembles have received many prestigious awards and recognitions on a national and international level including championships at festivals and competitions, performances at conferences and conventions, and guest appearances with professional orchestras and artists. Recent engagements include performances at Carnegie Hall, and with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Present Music and the Milwaukee Choral Artists. In October, our instrumental and choral ensembles performed at the Milwaukee Archdiocesan Convention, and in November, our Pius XI Concert Choir was filmed for a national television Christmas broadcast on ABC.
Our Students experience a sequenced, four-year curriculum designed to build superior musicianship, develop a true sense of ensemble and hone the life skills of self-confidence, performance and presentation that are transferable to any vocation. Because we are a regional high school that attracts musicians from as far away as Madison and Kenosha, we offer opportunities for students at all levels of experience. From “Beginning Band and Strings” and “Mixed Chorus” to “Wind Ensemble” and “Concert Choir,” we offer a wide range of ensembles that best fit the needs of our student musicians. This year the orchestra program also offers an intermediate string class as well as an advanced chamber ensembles program. We even offer outstanding opportunities in Instrumental and Vocal Jazz, classes in music theory, multi-cultural music and musical theatre, as well as vocal chamber ensembles that dress in period costumes and perform music of the Renaissance. In addition, Pius students have received individual awards and recognitions in several areas including: The National Association of Teachers of Singing, the WSMA Honors Project, Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Children’s Choir, Next Direction, the Regional Arts Recognition and Talent Search (ARTS) and the Florentine Opera High School Master Class Program.
Our concert season is an extension of our classroom. All of our ensembles perform regularly throughout the school year. Highlights of last year included combined choral and orchestral presentations of John Rutter’s Requiem at the historic Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center as well as a “Lessons and Carols” Christmas Concert at St. John’s Cathedral. The entire music department presented “ Pius Christmas at the Domes” in early December, and in March traveled to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, where students received clinics from the U of I renowned music faculty. Following the day of clinics, the students embarked on a concert tour of service performances at schools, nursing homes, and places of worship, where they were well received and invited to please come again. In May of 2007, our Instrumental and Vocal Jazz combined for “Jazz Café Night,” a great evening of dancing and swing at the Wisconsin War Memorial at the lakefront. For tickets and more information about all of our concert performances, contact the Pius bookstore at (414) 290-8151
At Pius XI High School, we are proud of our history, committed to the present and invested in the future. COME AND SEE WHY.
Theater
Our Program has won awards and been recognized for the breadth and depth of the performance opportunities that we offer our students. Here at Pius, the plays and musicals chosen for performance are filled with message, substance and style. Each academic school year we present three distinct and challenging plays and one main stage musical. In addition, we offer one play and one musical open only to freshmen and sophomores. This practice is unique to our program and is designed to offer a supportive atmosphere where young actors can explore and expand the range of their artistic abilities. In addition, we collaborate with professional theater companies, actors and directors in the Milwaukee area. We're also proud to have partnered with the Milwaukee Chamber Theater to present the “Metro Milwaukee Young Playwrights Festival” – a showcase for new plays written, directed and performed by students in the metro Milwaukee area.
Our Students experience a sequenced, four-year curriculum that begins with the introduction of the concept of ensemble. The relationship between the individual student and the group is at the heart of the Pius vision of theater. Classes are designed to recognize the exceptional abilities in each student, while learning how to be inspired by this diversity. We encourage our students to investigate the questions of life through the great questions of dramatic literature. Our students experience every aspect of theater production in our curriculum; ranging from acting on the stage to designing and building sets, to writing and directing their own material. Students may even choose to pursue their individual interests through a special project course of study with a theater instructor. These projects culminate with a performance each semester in our Black Box Theater. Some of our students go on to pursue performing arts at some of the most prestigious colleges in the country. All of our students develop performance skills and abilities that transfer to life skills in the areas of presentation and communication.
Our Theater Season is as rich and varied as our curriculum. This year, we offer productions that range from the nation-wide sensation of Disney’s High School Musical at the historic Pabst Theatre, to the sharp and poignant issues in Blood Wedding presented in our intimate Black Box Theater. In Theater Arts, we enjoy opportunities to collaborate often with our music and dance departments not only on musical productions, but in special projects like our “Opera Gala” presented in March at the Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center, and academic classes offered in musical theatre. For tickets and more information about all of our performances, contact the Pius Bookstore at (414) 290-8151.
Dance
Our Program is all about momentum. Our dance program is in its fifth year under the direction of Ms. Tina Wozniak, and is garnering respect and admiration from all of the major dance studios in the Milwaukee area. In addition, our dance program collaborates frequently with many professional ensembles. Recent projects include programs with the UW-Milwaukee Dance Program, KO-THI African Dance Company, Fuel Dance Company and Danceworks.
Our Students experience a four-year, sequenced curriculum that is high energy, high-spirited, challenging and FUN! Rooted in the foundational principles of safety, fitness and wellness, the Dance Program at Pius offers opportunities for students at all levels of dance and movement experience. Academic classes range from beginning levels to advanced and focus on muscle strengthening and training as well as all of the major styles of dance including tap, jazz, ballet and hip hop. In addition, students have opportunities to choreograph and stage their own dance compositions, and work on all aspects of dance show production, including: staging, lights, music editing and costuming. After a four-year sequence of classes and productions, students are trained to a level of expertise that easily transfers to a college dance program. Some of our students choose to pursue dance as a career, but all of our students are given the skills and abilities necessary to pursue life-long fitness through dance and movement.
Our Performance Season is as unique and varied as the students that make up our classes. Our fall dance show is completely designed and choreographed by our students, and reflects their individual areas of interest and levels of experience. Our spring dance show is an auditioned production that showcases each of our classes, and features special pieces choreographed by guest artists. We collaborate often with the music and theater departments to present musicals, and we also work closely with the athletic department on dance teams such as Pom Pons and Drill Team. For tickets and more information about all of our performances, contact the Pius Bookstore at (414) 290-8151.
Courses:
Choral Music
Mixed Choir
Global Rhythm
Broadway & Beyond
Advanced Treble Choir
Concert Choir
Vocal Jazz Ensemble
Madrigal Ensemble
Special Projects in Choral Music
Instrumental Music
Beginning Band & Strings
Concert Band
Intermediate Strings
Wind Ensemble
String Orchestra
Jazz Lab
Jazz Ensemble
Music Theory
Special Projects in Instrumental Music
Dance
Beginning Dance
Intermediate Dance I
Intermediate Dance II
Advanced Dance
Rhythm
Special Projects in Dance
Theater
Acting 1A
Acting 1B
Acting 2
Acting 3
Acting 4
Directing 1
Directing 2
Technical Theater
Special Projects in Theater