Last Thursday and Friday, York Drama students worked with Broadway composer Adam Gwon and performed in a concert which consisted of his songs. 27 students were selected to sing in the concert and 15 were invited to participate in a masterclass led by Gwon.

“I learned a lot from him! The experience was just something truly unique and something I’ll never forget,” said Danielle Fite, junior, who was in the masterclass as well as the concert. “He taught me to look deeper than the text of my song. I was focusing on only the negative aspect of the text in it but he told me to place my focus on the positive–despite the negative text. It was really different perspective and performing with a positive quirk made the song way more interesting.”

Gwon’s music is largely focused around stories, and this is apparent when listening to it. He has written one full musical, Ordinary Days, and has written music that has been performed by several artists, including Lindsey Mendez and Audra McDonald.

“He was a really nice guy and very gracious for coming to our high school even though he’s definitely got a lot of work to do for Broadway,” said Erin Lee, sophomore. “It was very cool to work with him and watch others work with him because you could actually hear the backstory on his songs. I found out for song ideas sometimes he asks a friend to tell him a story and then writes a song about it. He was very encouraging and proud of all the performers. It was a really awesome night!”

The drama students at York have been fortunate enough to work with several accomplished artists in the past, including composers Kerrigan and Lowdermilk, Pasek and Paul, and Drew Gasparini, but they are always eager and ready to learn from them.

“I always think it’s amazing to get insight from someone who is making a living in the musical theater business,“ said Hanna Kikos, senior. “He has put so much work into his craft and that truly showed when we worked with him, he was so passionate and it was amazing learning from someone like that.”

Working with Gwon was a positive experience for the students. They were left with plenty of knowledge, information, and inspiration.

“The concert itself was also an amazing bonding time for the students performing,” said Fite. “We came together to do something that we all love deeply; and seeing the passion and talent from my friends was incredible.”