Julia Atwood P’28, Music Director

In addition to leading the music program, she teaches Music Theory, directs Glee Club and Chamber Choir, and holds private voice and piano lessons! Julia is also a key member in helping put together the spring musical, weekly Luminas, and Candlelight, a cherished Westover tradition. 

 

Where is your office? Music Studio (Mrs. Hillard’s old room!)

 

Do you live on campus? Yes

 

Favorite Westover meal: Korean beef tacos

 

Favorite Westover tradition: Candlelight

What is your favorite thing about working at Westover? There is something incredibly special about Westover. I love this community so much! Westover has cultivated a safe place where students can be authentic. The classroom, the field, and the stage are all places where they can be themselves. They’re not judged for who they are – they’re celebrated. They can be teenagers, make mistakes, and be human. Students know that we are here as a community to encourage each other and to learn and grow from our experiences. They cheer each other on, no matter what, and the energy during performances and games is truly magical. That’s actually my favorite part of being on the Lumina Team, too. Every week, we celebrate the people and the things that make Westover so vibrant. In lifting each other up, we’re elevating what it means to be human and part of a gender-diverse girls school.

 

I also love that my daughter is now a student here! When I found out last spring that she would be attending Westover, I wondered how the social interactions between us would be. I actually ignored her at first to let her decide how she wanted to interact with me, but she always says hi when we pass and usually gives me a hug. 

What is the highlight of your year so far? I am over the moon about where the music program is right now, so the highlight of my year was definitely the Spring Concert! Covid made it challenging to make music in a group, but ever since then, we have been rebuilding the program. Over half the school is now involved in music in some way! 

We now have 40 students in Glee Club, 18 in Handbells, 10 in Chamber Choir, 30 students taking private lessons, and a full string quartet. We've also added a traditional Chinese Instrument Ensemble this year. In addition to this increase in numbers, each ensemble has achieved an impressive level of music-making. This year’s Spring Concert was exceptional and demonstrated that music is flourishing at Westover!

 

As for the ensembles that I direct, two-thirds of our Glee Club students are new to Glee, and they are already phenomenal musicians. Once the new students arrived this fall, I knew it was going to be a very special year for Glee Club. They already sounded amazing, and at the same time, I could also hear the potential for growth. During the spring concert, I actually got teary when they sang “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas. They had actualized their potential for the year. It was so moving to experience what I had heard in my imagination way back in the fall! 

 

Chamber Choir is also singing at a very high level right now, meaning we get to play around with vocal tone and timbre during our rehearsals. Currently, I’m exploring the possibility of Westover having its own signature choral sound and considering what we need to do to nurture and further develop that sound. We also focus more on style in Chamber Choir, meaning that we don't sing Mozart the same way as we would sing something written last year. At the Spring Concert, Chamber Choir sang "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella. It was so much fun working to evoke that 1950s sentimental, romantic sound!

 

What inspires you as a teacher? My students truly inspire me. Westover has the best students, and I have the very best of Westover in the music program! My students motivate me to try new things and go outside of my comfort zone in order to be an even better teacher for them. I thoroughly enjoy spending my day with teenagers! Our students are witty, kind, and passionate about social justice. They have a way of bringing focus to what's really important in life, inspiring me to be a better human. This rearranging of priorities has also helped me be a better parent. With my own children, I make clear the requirements for being a good member of a community and a family, and then I allow them to color in that outline in their own creative way.

Tell us about your dream day. The ocean is my favorite place and traveling is my favorite thing to do. So, my dream day would combine the best parts of all the beaches that I know and love. 

After sleeping in a bit, my kids and I have omelettes and berries for breakfast on our oceanfront balcony. We're lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins swim by! Since I'm dreaming, my kiddos fight over who gets to do the dishes, and then we head to the beach. Once there, we set up our umbrella and chairs, ready for a day of fun in the sun. I start with some open water swimming. My middle child joins me, while my oldest tans and my youngest fishes with his favorite babysitter. There happens to be a coral reef right off the beach, so I’m able to snorkel and get my strokes in at the same time. When I tell my daughter and my youngest about all of the amazing fish we're seeing, they decide to join us. My youngest sees a stingray on the ocean floor and conquers his fear! He leaves it alone, and it leaves him alone. They coexist.

 

After all that activity, we're hungry again, so we have sushi and seaweed salad for lunch. The kids are done with the sand and head to the pool with the babysitter, leaving me with my book (currently Northanger Abbey) for a couple of hours. Eventually, I doze off under the umbrella. When I wake up, it's already 5:00 and you know what that means! It's time for me to bring my dog Milo to the beach! I go back to the condo to get Milo and the kids, and we all take a long walk on the beach. We meet other furry friends along the way, and Milo and the other pups play and swim. Just watching them brings us joy!