In a more typical school year, Middle and Upper School students, in partnership with faculty, would treat the Pingry community to a feast of the senses—live, in the Hauser Auditorium—in celebration of the Lunar New Year.

While every bit as cheerful and energetic, this winter's festivities looked a bit different. Hosts Milenka Men '23 and Charles Jiang '23 presented a 22-minute pre-recorded video filled with music, poetry, song, dance, and even drumming in honor of the Year of the Ox. Among other attributes, the ox signifies a bountiful harvest and good luck, which, as Milenka pronounced, will hopefully help to drive away the "evil spirits of COVID!"

Highlights included:

• In Hauser Auditorium, members of the Taiko Drumming Club (above), led by advisor Chris Leone, performed Matsuri ("festival" in Japanese).

• Vinav Shah '25 sang a selection from a traditional Chinese poem, The Plum Blossoms.

• Grade 6 students Jasmine Zhou and Ava Maloney recited a poem by Wang Anshi (1021-1086), The First Day of Lunar New Year.

• Ram Doraswamy '22 and Natalie DeVito '22 (right) sang "Tian Mi Mi" ("Sweet on You") by a more contemporary artist, Teresa Teng.

• Zoe Wang '22, on cello, and her mother, on piano, performed a popular Chinese folk song, "Mo Li Hua," or "Jasmine Flower."

• Gao Hong, a well-known Chinese performer, played "Dragon Boat" on the pipa, a pear-shaped lute traditional to Chinese music.


View the virtual celebration. The Pingry community sends New Year Greetings of happiness, warmth, and good luck!


Contact: Andrea Dawson, Senior Writer, adawson@pingry.org