Student dance performance
Woodward student violinist

Orchestra

Our Upper School Orchestra program immerses students in daily training, allowing them to advance their skills and fully develop their musical talents. They study under a classically trained program director who performs as a professional musician and previously played for symphonies and opera companies around the United States.

Gina Calloway

Orchestra Director


Ms. Calloway holds a double bachelor's degree in Music Education and Viola Performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Ms. Calloway has played professionally in the Detroit Symphony, New World Symphony, Michigan Opera Theatre, Huntsville Symphony, and Columbus Symphony. She is a freelance violinist/violist and has performed with various artists, including Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Wynona Judd, and Roger Daltry. Ms. Calloway is a former student of Masao Kawasaki of the Juilliard School.

Orchestra Programs

Band

Our band program is one of the largest and broadest of any independent school in the nation. The Robert W. Woodruff Band is named in honor of the former chairman of The Coca-Cola Company. As its name implies, the band has a storied history, having performed at presidential inaugural parades and in concerts throughout Europe and China. Our band program is one of the reasons that Woodward ranks as one of the best performing arts schools in Georgia.

Woodward student marching band

Kenny Beard

Teacher, Director of Bands


Mr. Beard taught in Georgia public schools for 30 years, including stints with Forest Park High School, Newton County High School, and 26 years in Fayette County. An eight-time recipient of the National Band Association (NBA) Citation of Excellence, Mr. Beard is a member of Who's Who Among American Teachers, and his bands have been selected to perform at Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) State Conventions, Southern Division Music Educators National Conference (MENC) Conventions, the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival, the Southern Division of the National Band Association Conference, the Lord Mayor of London's New Year's Day Parade, the Tournament of Roses Parade, and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. Mr. Beard is a member of MENC, NBA, Phi Beta Mu, and GMEA, for which he served as the State Band Chair. He has also served as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Band Chairman. Mr. Beard currently serves as a Board Member of the National Band Association as a High School Representative.

Lauran Hunt

Teacher, Performing Arts


Mr. Hunt has been a member of The Baker-Williams Orchestra, The Dekalb College Jazz Band, The Multifarious Jazz Emissaries, and The Nightflight Band. He has performed at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festivals, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Dogwood Festival, Yellow Daisy Festival, Atlanta Arts Festival, and College Park Arts Festival. Mr. Hunt currently performs as a freelance musician on bass as well as with The Sentimental Journey Orchestra, The Nightwind Trio, and The Tamboo Steel Band. He is a member of the Music Educators National Conference, the Georgia Music Educators Association, the Georgia Association of Jazz Educators, and the International Association for Jazz Education. He has served as the District V Jazz All-State host and organizer and as a clinician for GAJE, for which he currently serves as treasurer.

Band Programs

Woodward student chorus singing

Choral Music

Students in choral music study secular and sacred repertoire of various time periods, from the Renaissance through contemporary music. Students learn choral techniques, the ability to sing at sight, linguistic skills, and collaborative artistry while gaining practice at performance.

Suzanne Woodruff

Department Chair, Performing Arts


Before arriving on Main Campus, Mrs. Woodruff taught general music and chorus at the Busey Campus of Woodward Academy (1994-2005). Previously, she taught choral music in Clayton County at Riverdale Junior High School. Her choirs have performed at the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Convention, and in January 2015, her Middle School Treble Choir was selected to perform at the GMEA Convention in Savannah. Mrs. Woodruff is a member of the American Choral Directors Association and serves as the Repertoire and Standards Chair for Middle School Choirs. She has served as a guest conductor for the Georgia 6th District Honor Chorus and the Fayette County Elementary Honor Chorus. Mrs. Woodruff also is a certified music educator in Orff and Kodaly methods.

Stephen Rotz

Choral Director


Prior to Woodward, Mr. Rotz was a charter faculty member at Creekland Middle School in Cherokee County, Ga., and his choirs there were recognized for their excellence. He has been a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and is currently the director of the chamber choir Sounds of Faith at Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Buckhead. Active as a soloist, Mr. Rotz was featured by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in their American Music Concert in July 2013. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, serving on the board of directors for its Georgia chapter, as well as a member of the Georgia Music Educators Association, for which he recently completed a term as chair of the standing committee for LGPE repertoire. Mr. Rotz pioneered GMEA' s transition to the use of public domain literature for the first All-State Chorus audition, effectively reducing the cost of the audition for thousands of students throughout Georgia. Under his leadership, Woodward Academy's Camerata was accepted to perform at the GMEA In-Service Conferences in 2009 and 2014 as well as the Southern Division ACDA conference in 2012. Two of his arrangements performed by Woodward choirs have been published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing.

Choral Program

Student dance performance

Dance

The Mission of the US Dance Program is to help develop strong and confident dance artists, and to nurture compassionate, conscious and creative human beings.

The Upper School Dance program is designed to train students in the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of modern, ballet, and jazz techniques. The curriculum centers on choreography studies, improvisation, personal expression through movement, dance history, and performance. It also gives the students an opportunity to build strong bodies, to develop discipline, to enhance confidence, to promote leadership and to inspire creativity. Classes are leveled by ability.

We have 3 Levels of Dance classes; Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced.

Classes meet 4 times per week on a rotating schedule.

Dance Ensemble meets during a class period as well as after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Dance Program

Jenny Gould

Teacher, Dance


Ms. Jenny Gould earned her B.F.A in dance from the State University of New York at Purchase and her Master's Degree in Education from Lesley University. She won a merit scholarship at the Alvin Ailey School and furthered her training in New York City. Her professional credits include Broadway productions: Meg Giry in Phantom of the Opera (San Francisco Cast); Andrew Lloyd Weber's Requiem/Variations; National tour of Brigadoon; Fleur in the Yeston/Kopit Phantom; Cinderella and Brigadoon at Lincoln Center for the New York City Opera; Pearl Fishers, The Marriage of Figaro, Eugene Onegin and Turandot, with the Atlanta Opera. She has taught at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and continues to choreograph here in Atlanta. She taught dance at the Governor's Honors Program at Valdosta State University for 4 consecutive summers.

Theatre

Upper School students develop their creative skills while learning the technical aspects of theatre in three main-stage productions during every school year—two fall productions and a spring musical. Our instructors of dramatic arts have many years of experience on stage, in the roles of actor, director, and playwright, in addition to years of experience teaching theatre arts.

Woodward students theatrical performance

Erin Greenway

Teacher, Performing Arts


Erin Greenway is a graduate from Guilford College in Greensboro, NC with a B.A. in Theatre Studies and Dance, and has studied acting and dance in the states and abroad. She has been working for the past 14 years in Atlanta as an arts educator, theatre and film actress, choreographer, and photographer. While abroad, Erin worked with the English National Ballet taking classes, and working with the Community Education program exposing elementary schools, elderly groups, and children's hospitals to the world of ballet. After moving back to the states, she helped to set up Greensboro, North Carolina's first Arts Advocacy Council. Erin has worked with over 20 theatre companies regionally, and is currently the Artistic Director for Ouroboros Theatre.

Theatre Program

Woodward students conducting interview

WALive TV

WALive TV is the Academy’s multi-camera, closed-circuit television station. Students write, produce, and host segments broadcast to the Upper School, learning video production through hands-on experience and cultivating their talents in directing, script-writing, editing, and producing.

Trevon Broad

Director of Woodward Television
"When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."
Mr. Broad holds a degree from the Art Institute of Atlanta. He has taught at Woodward since 1993, instructing students in our video classes and serving as director of WALive, our live video streaming program.

Video Program

Student in film studies

Film Studies

Students interested in the film industry can take classes in film history, scriptwriting and production. Film history explores major technological, aesthetic, and cultural changes and trends in the film industry. Students hear from industry speakers and have opportunities to visit some of the film industry sites in the Atlanta area. Students interested in scriptwriting and production delve deeper into storytelling by learning about film history and all of the most important innovations in the medium. Students will create scripts and see them realized as fully produced short films.

Nicholas Widener

Teacher, Performing Arts

Mr. Nicholas Widener, Class of 2009, majored in mass communication, studying broadcast journalism, photography, and news journalism at Georgia College. He also served as the news editor and film critic for the student newspaper, The Colonnade. In 2019, Mr. Widener completed his MFA in photography from SCAD. Mr. Widener has entered his work into several film competitions including AthFest and the Atlanta 48 Hour Film Project.

While at Woodward, he ran cross country and participated in track and field. After graduating from Woodward, Coach Widener attended Georgia College in Milledgeville where he ran cross country for Coach Joe Samprone.

At Woodward, Coach Widener has been an assistant cross country coach since 2016, and both a Middle School and Upper School track and field distance coach since 2016. He continues to compete in 5ks and 10k's whenever he is not coaching a Woodward team. He even holds the record for the most miles run at the Woodard Academy Willingham Track.

During the school day, Coach Widener is teaching film classes for the Upper and Middle School. He is excited to begin his first year as the head boys and girls cross country coach in the fall of 2021.

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” - Steve Prefontaine

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” - Hebrews 12:1

Film Studies Program

Woodward student playing violin

Music Production

The Electronic Music Lab class introduces students to fundamental aspects of using synthesizers, digital samplers, computers, and other electronic instruments to create music. Students learn fundamentals of music structure, form, rhythm, and melodic composition. The course is open to all Upper School students and requires no previous music experience or knowledge, and it teaches technical skills useful in other types of multimedia presentation, from instructional films to boardroom presentations.

Guitar

Students can learn the basics of the world’s most popular instrument. Classical and electric guitars are provided, so students are not required to bring instruments. The Guitar I course provides a general background in note-reading, chord forms, and basic guitar literature while teaching a combination of classical and popular techniques. In Guitar II, students explore techniques more deeply and delve further into the classical repertoire. Advanced classes are available for students wishing to continue studying guitar.

Upper School students playing guitar