San Francisco School of The Arts - The Departments

The Departments

All of the students attending Ruth Asawa SOTA must audition into a specific discipline. At the end of sophomore year, students must re-audition for a spot in their department, and there is a possibility that the student will not be invited to continue in that discipline.

1. Visual Arts: The visual arts department specializes in painting, drawing, and sculpting works of art. In freshman year, students learn the fundamentals of visual art, studying composition, perspective, color theory, and practicing basic drawing and painting techniques. In sophomore year, they experiment in depth with new media such as sculpture and photography, while continuing to develop their skills with pencil, charcoal, and acrylic paint. Students also take an Art History course after normal school hours. During junior and senior year, students return to more traditional media, finishing their time at SOTA by creating a series based on a topic of their choice. There are four exhibitions each year, each showcasing the best works produced by a single grade during that year. Additionally, murals painted by the visual department adorn hallways throughout the school.

2. Theatre: At nearly 80 students, the Theatre department is one of the largest in school, boasting alumni such as Margaret Cho, Sam Rockwell, and Aisha Tyler. Interested students must go through a rigorous two day audition before being accepted.

Every day students have several separate "classes" including Acting, Movement, Playwriting, Voice, Directing, and Clowning, along with a few experimental classes such as Afro-Haitian Dance, and Asian Theatre. This is with the exception of "Boot Camp", being roughly the first six weeks of the year, during which time the incoming Freshmen are "oriented" to the department and taught some basic Theatre games. Returning students present their "Summer Scenes" which are handed out to the Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors at the end of each year, and a contemporary monologue which was also developed over the summer.

3. Vocal: With a size of about 80 students, the Vocal department is instructed by former Chanticleer member Todd Wedge. Students learn songs in German, French, Italian, and English. The department consists of two tracks: Classical Voice, and Musical Theatre. Both Classical and Musical Theatre students take part in the Vocal Concert Choir, but the classes they take in addition to the Concert Choir vary between tracks. In addition to the Concert Choir, members of both Classical and Musical Theatre are required to take Music Theory and a Piano course. Musical Theatre students take Dance and Acting, while Classical Voice students take Diction and IPA, and have a weekly Vocal Lab in which students work with the incredible artist-in-residences to learn and prepare a song in 6 weeks. Freshmen take English Art Songs, Sophomores take Italian Art Songs, Juniors take German Lieder, and Seniors take French Chason. In addition to the Concert Chorus, the department includes a Chamber Choir, a small 25-member ensemble that learns more challenging music and performs at a variety of venues throughout the year. Starting in 2012 the Contemporary Ensemble, open to both Classical Voice and Musical Theatre students that like to perform contemporary and pop songs, was implemented, instructed by Artist-in-Residence Julia Hathaway.

4. Theatre Tech: In Theatre Tech, students learn the arts of scenography and stagecraft. Students work daily with professional artists-in-residence, and have the opportunity to design and create costumes, props, and sets; stage manage a show; and design and implement sound, lighting, and rigging. In addition to doing design and stagecraft for SOTA's annual musical theatre production, the students of Theatre Tech also create sets and costumes for many student productions throughout the Bay Area. They also assist SOTA's other departments by providing technical assistance and stage crew for their performances. The Theatre Tech department has won numerous awards over the years at the Ohlone College High School Theatre Festival.

5. Media: One of the smaller departments, Media is a place for filmmakers, photographers, and writers. Media students take various classes in art direction (costuming, set design), screenwriting, directing, Film Studies (classics, foreign film, documentary) narrative editing, and Soundstage. The department hosts a biannual screening of student films, called "Media Night".

6. Dance: Dance is taught by a former dancer, Elvia Marta, who was one of the founding teachers of the school. Dancers journey into San Francisco five times a week for classes at a professional studio. The choreography in their productions are made up of student and artist-in-residence work.

7. Orchestra: This department is for students with talent in violin, viola, cello, double, and Baroque instruments such as the viola da gamba. The department is currently run by Matt Cmiel. Students are required to play in chamber groups, such as a quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello) or quintet (two violins, a viola, a cello, and a double bass), the two most common groups.

8. Band: This department is for students with talent in French Horn, Guitar, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Baritone, Drums, Flute, Clarinet, Piccolo, Oboe, Saxophone, Percussion, and Bassoon, currently taught by Brad Hogarth, a graduate of the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Students can join the Guitar program, a division of the Band department led by Scott Cmiel, a current Professor of Classical Guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. To do so, one must audition into the Band program with guitar. Students hold performances in SOTA's auditorium and many other venues, including Yoshi's.

9. Piano: The smallest of all departments taught by Ava Soifer. Every Tuesday the students have a class called "Performance Class," where students must perform solos and duets while their peers write critiques. Every Wednesday the students take Music Theory classes, including A.P. Theory and Composition for the more advanced pianists. Pianists also have weekly solo and duet coachings with the teacher, Ava Soifer, where they perform for her and are graded. Pianists have Improvisation class for 16 Fridays a year, where they are divided into two classes and work on making up music on the spot. All pianists must accompany singers at "Lab" once a week and at lunchtimes. Each pianist is usually responsible for accompanying 3–7 singers each grading period.

10. World Music: A new art discipline which began in 2012 taught by Monina Cervone, who taught at the Academy for many years. The department is currently small, with fifteen students. The students practice a diverse mixture of Taiko drumming, Ukelele, Gamelon, and Brazilian drumming. The students practice in the Dojo, located under the gymnasium.

11. Creative Writing: Another small department, Creative Writing is known for their talented students and impressive bodies of work. The head of this department, Heather Woodward, is also a 9th grade honors English teacher. The department hosts several Creative Writing shows throughout the year, in which the students perform their best works for an audience, frequently through an over-arcing theme that unites the pieces and creates a cohesive theatrical show.