"Lord of the Loch" staged reading and Simon A. '20.

Out of 561 plays submitted to last school year's California Young Playwrights contest, senior Simon A.'s rock opera musical submission, Lord of the Loch, was one of 21 selected as a semi-finalist. At the end of last school year, the Wildwood performing arts and music departments helped Simon, then a junior, to mount a staged reading. The musical combines Simon's passions of Scottish history, science fiction, and rock music, setting an epic story of ancient Scotland in outer space.

In his letter of congratulations, Simon received personalized feedback and encouragement to continue to work on the piece for his college entrance portfolio, even suggesting he consider filming the piece as a screenplay.

When asked about his Wildwood influences, Simon noted, "Wildwood's music department gave me the tools a thousandfold to pursue my love of music and realize this vision." He continued, "Had the absolutely incredible teachers here never taught me my first guitar chords in middle school and put me on stage in the SI jazz band, I don't know if I'd ever have found my calling in the first place!" He is currently working on scoring student films and hopes to create a career out of writing musicals and composing for film and TV. Congratulations, Simon!