Arts Student of the Week - River Osgood

According to his teacher Laura Walters, River Osgood has been one of the most dedicated choir students at Niwot High School during his four-year tenure. Currently he is in three of the NHS choirs, and is a lead in the fall play, "Puffs."

Theater and music have played a large role in Osgood's life. His parents met during one of their high school performances together. His sister was interested in theater, his older brother experimented with guitar, and his twin brother played the violin for a few years. "Not to mention the piano that was gathering dust that drove me to learn how to play," Osgood said. "I guess music is one of the cornerstones of my upbringing."

Osgood acknowledges that his involvement in the arts has had a major impact on his life. He met most of his friends and acquaintances through the performing arts. "From a voice on the inside," he said, "performing arts isn't just a place where you make music or put on a show, it's a community of people who work together to make something great. It's a place where you meet new people who wouldn't judge you and [who] really build you up," he said.

Walters, the Choral Music Director at NHS who selected Osgood as this week's Arts Student of the Week, admires the NHS senior's musical ability and determination. "River is an excellent musician and an inspiration to everyone in his three choirs," she said. "He has a great tenor voice. He auditions for everything, has made it into our district honor choir every year, All-State Choir his junior year, and will audition for everything he can this year as well."

Throughout his studies at NHS, Osgood auditioned only for the school musicals rather than bands, because he felt a bigger connection to the musical side of performing. Because this is his last year at NHS, he wanted to go out with a bang. He auditioned for the play, "Puffs," and said, "It wasn't a mistake. I got to spend time with a lot of my friends, and what do you know? I got my first ever lead role. Getting the lead role in the play showed me that my talents lie far beyond just singing and music. And it's a better senior experience than what I would've gotten if I didn't audition for the show."

Osgood takes voice lessons at Parlando School of Musical Arts where, occasionally, they plan a performance for all the school's students. Osgood is always a participant. Every summer they also put on a musical and he auditions every year. Sadly, this will be his last year in musicals at Parlando, but he hopes to continue taking voice lessons there.

"There are also some scientific implications about the connection through choir and singing," Osgood said. "A study was done on a group of singers who didn't know each other. The study showed that while singing, the group's heartbeats and breathing synchronized perfectly and that in a group of singers it is easier to connect with people."

Singing in Colorado All State Choir last year was his most memorable performance to date, he said, though he thinks that his upcoming performance in "Puffs" will be something to be remembered. All-State Choir was memorable because Osgood felt he was able to take his singing to a higher degree. It demonstrated to him that he was more talented than he thought.

"Niwot High School has led me to the belief that it is one of, if not the best, high schools in the state. First of all, we are an IB school, showing that we have academically gifted students. We have some of the best sports teams, and not to mention we have a really good performing arts department on top of all of that. If I were to rate my experience out of 10, I'd give it a 20. This school is one of the best out there," said Osgood.

"Puffs" is the story of Harry Potter through the eyes of Hufflepuffs, one of the houses that wasn't discussed in depth in the book series. Throughout the show, the main protagonist gets into many situations that are more ridiculous than serious. "The show is mostly a comedy written for the younger generations as most of the jokes seem to be our very immature sense of humor," Osgood explained.

Osgood says that his experience in the performing arts at NHS has been amazing every step of the way. "Every day in choir there are people ready to make beautiful music. Everyone working together to make something great that everyone can bond over" is what he loves about Niwot Choir and the performing arts at Niwot so much.

"He is so kind to everyone in choir, and very humble about his skills," Walters said. "He is not afraid to make mistakes, and everyone in his section looks up to him as a leader. He has been a huge part of the Niwot choirs for the past four years, and it will be very different without him in our program next year!"

According to Walters, Osgood plans to pursue a performance degree after high school. "I am a really big fan of playing the piano," Osgood said. "I've been taking lessons for the past 11 years of my life. To be completely honest, music is basically all I do. My plan going forward is to hopefully go to Penn State for a music theater major and a minor in some sort of math. Math is one of my other talents that could be used in the future as a potential career, though hopefully I can use my theater skills to one day perform on the stage for a job."