This year’s Fall Beatnik on Friday, October 11 filled Straus Library with laughter, rhythm, and poetry, as students across grades seized the opportunity to showcase their talents. According to the Magus Mabus setlist, there were 23 performances that night. Throughout the event, spectators packed the room. The four-times-a-year event celebrated Milton’s culture of creativity and authenticity by performing for an audience of students and teachers.
As the lights died down, energy overwhelmed the room. From enticing piano performances to soothing poetry-reading, every act offered some thing unique to the stage. Some students performed their own compositions, while others performed well-known songs, modifying them with a personal touch. Between acts, the audience clapped, snapped, and whispered amongst themselves excitedly about what might come next. The chatter of students, dim lights reflecting off the bookshelves, and the cluster of snacks at the back table characterized the event as a student gathering rather than a formal performance.
“I really liked Jayden [Lee ‘27]’s piano performance,” remarked Henry Lin ’28, an audience member, about Lee’s self-composed piano piece. “It was a piece he composed himself. Since I also play the viola, it was a really good experience hearing something like that.”
What made the evening powerful was not only the talent displayed on stage but also the emotion behind each piece. The audience did more than just watch: with eager eyes, they listened, encouraged, and responded to everything presented, celebrating connections between performances and audience members.
One audience member, Wesley Xue ’28, highlighted the senior performance of “Everybody Talks,” a song by Neon Trees, as his favorite. “It felt special because it was their last year, and you could tell they brought all their experience into it,” Xue said. Reflecting on the night, Xue added that “there was a lot more variety this year, especially with the freshmen performing for the first time,” which “showed how dynamic and diverse our community is.” He also described the atmosphere as “packed and energetic.” As it was the first all-school Beatnik of the year, “the excitement in the room felt even stronger.”
Henrik Pang ’29 shared a similar experience, emphasizing the inclusive spirit of the experience and saying that Beatnik reflected the Milton community as “a very diverse but still close one, since everyone was supporting each other.” While remembering the atmosphere, he laughed, “it was loud, fun, and full of energy—I’m even considering performing next time.”
The performers echoed with the sense of connection. “My friends and I all play instruments, so we decided to form a band,” said Jinghan Su ’29, who performed the piano piece in “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” She continued, “I felt nervous at first, but everyone was really supportive and encouraging. I just hope the audience enjoyed our performance as much as we enjoyed performing it.” Another performer, Leo Wan ’28, who also helped to organize the event, explained that his poem choice, Two Boys at Midnight, came from an English class discussion. “I wanted to express love, melancholy, and remembrance,” Wan said. “But mainly, the message is to do things while you’re still young.”
Behind the scenes, Wan described that “meticulous planning” beginning “two weeks beforehand” was required to pull the event together. The board had to “organize performers, decide the order, and make last-minute adjustments,” and the setup was “a lot of physical and mental work.” Despite the effort, he finds it rewarding because he gets to “present someone and then feel proud after they do a really good job.” Even though “setting up and cleaning up is tiring,” Wan added, “at the end of the day, it feels good.”