Two Pomperaug High School Seniors Enroll in Music Course
at Yale University  

            Pomperaug High School (PHS) students, Michael Meehan and Alyssa Barna are working in harmony this year.  Both of them have enrolled in a music class at Yale University in New Haven, CT.        

            The class they are taking, worth four college credits, is called Elementary Studies in Analysis and Composition II.  According to the Yale Music Department, the course is designed as an investigation of further applications in tonal harmony, with emphasis on the music of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

          If it sounds challenging, “It is,” says Ms. Barna.  “It has been very stimulating and exciting.  I’m enjoying the challenge and I don’t even mind the 45 minute drive to New Haven,” a trip they each make, twice a week.

            Meehan who is a senior and Barna, a junior, each completed the Advanced Placement Music Theory course at PHS.  Robert D’Angelo, the high school’s Instrumental Music teacher, said the two students passed with the highest score possible on both the written and oral exams. 

            In his continued efforts to cultivate their talents, Mr. D’Angelo recommended their enrollment in the music course at Yale.  Requirements for enrollment included passing a music theory placement test.

            “These two students are talented and gifted.  They are as good, if not better, than the undergraduate students they are taking the course with.  This is the ultimate experience for a high school student of music, to be given an opportunity to study at a university as prestigious as Yale.” said Mr. D’Angelo.         

          “These two are taking Yale College courses for credit in the company of college students and are held to the exact same academic standards,” said Ian Quinn, Assistant Professor of Music at Yale.  “From what I’ve been told, they are doing quite well.”

          Meehan reports that their class began with 15 students and enrollment is now down to 6.  “It’s great having such a small class,” he said.  “Mr. D’Angelo has taught us a great deal about music theory.  He gave us the basic knowledge and laid the foundation that has prepared us to take this course.”

            Meehan who plays “every instrument”, including the saxophone, which he plays in the school's jazz band, is also a composer.  In 2005, he was one of two composers from Pomperaug who participated in the CT Music Educators Association’s annual All-State Conference.      

            His “contemporary” composition was chosen and performed at the conference by the Western Connecticut State University, wind ensemble.  Meehan was given the honor of conducting his peers, when the symphonic band performed the piece at their spring concert.

            According to Mr. D’Angelo, having a composition selected for the All-State Conference is quite an accomplishment, as only one composition per grade is chosen.  “It’s as good a piece as anything I’ve every conducted," he said.

            Meehan will work towards a career in performance and composition when he attends college.  Ms. Barna, who began playing piano at age 4 and the clarinet at 9, will continue her studies in pursuit of a career in music education.  

          “I’m very proud of them,” said Mr. D’Angelo.  They’ve worked hard and I will miss them next year.  As a teacher, it is very rewarding to experience students who have such respect for music and what it means.  If I’ve made a positive contribution to their musical careers, that’s all you can ask as an educator.”