Angelic sounds at Roosevelt's spring concert
4 years ago | 59 views | 0 
| 2 
| 
| 
| 2 | |
This year, for the first time, the school was able to hire a full-time music teacher in Suzanne Levine. In the past, Piero Romano had to juggle his time between Roosevelt and Webster Schools. Now, Romano has been assigned full-time to Webster (pre-K through 2), and Levine, a trained opera singer and musician, has been implemented at Roosevelt School.
Last week, the school held its annual spring concert, entitled "Celebrate America," a tribute to American songs and American composers. This concert came with a new twist - the first-ever bell choir.
Levine wanted to initiate the bell choir, a precise, yet beautiful musical collection, that when it's done right, can light up an audience.
Each child is asked to play its bell at the exact moment that the pitch of the bell is required.
"When you play the bells, you play just one note, but that one note keeps the whole melody," said brilliant 10-year-old fifth grader Alexa Berlin. "However, if you're even a half beat late, it ruins the whole song. So you have to have perfect timing to keep the song going. I take it very seriously. It's not like your average music. It's so different, but when it's done right, everyone enjoys it. I can do it over and over. It's really awesome to hear."
"It really is a sophisticated procedure," said Roosevelt School Principal Anthony LaBruno. "I'm not a musical person by any means, but it was amazing to see these kids play songs by just using the bells."
The 12-member bell choir played "America," "America the Beautiful," "Amazing Grace" and "When the Saints Go Marchin' In," displaying a diverse music style and pitch.
The concert began with the third and fourth grade recorder ensemble. In those grades, each student is taught how to play the recorder, and then Levine selected the 25 best recorder players to perform at the concert.
The students rehearsed and prepared for the concert on their own free time, either before or after school or during lunch periods.
The recorder group played "Merrily We Roll Along," "Happy New Year," and "Old Rock Candy Mountain."
Fourth grader Stephen Rodriguez was a member of the recorder ensemble.
"I really like playing the recorder," Rodriguez said. "It's a lot of fun and I try to practice almost every day. I love music. I play some keyboards, too. Since this was my second year with the recorder group, it was a little easier for me. But we need a lot of good timing to be able to play together. I want to play keyboards and guitar in the future. I really like it. Maybe I'll become a musician when I grow up."
The sixth graders form the singing chorus. This is a group that performed all year round, with Christmas concerts and performances at the tree lighting ceremonies and for senior citizen groups.
There's a special breed of dedication that the members of the chorus provide.
"This was my first year singing with the chorus and I loved it," said 11-year-old sixth grader Chloe Mango. "I just love to sing. I sang a little bit before, but nothing ever like this, especially in front of an audience. I was very nervous to begin, but I was able to calm myself down."
Mango said that she liked performing the American classics.
"It really makes you think about the history of America," Mango said.
She said didn't mind giving up her lunch periods to rehearse for the concerts.
"We did it for three days a week, but I knew that it was helping us to become better singers," Mango said. "A lot of people didn't like giving up lunch to sing, but they still did it anyway. It was a lot of fun to take part in this."
Berlin, who performs with a musical theater company in Hoboken, just transferred to Roosevelt School this year from a private school.
"This was my first year in the school, so this was all new to me," Berlin said. "But this was great. There was so much to offer, with the singing and the playing of the instruments. I love to perform and I was glad to be able to do it here."
Needless to say, the school's head honcho came away impressed.
"I couldn't say a word after it was over," LaBruno said. "It was a fantastic performance. Suzanne Levine raised the bar high with the kids and they came through. I thought it was excellent."
LaBruno gave credit to Maryellen Spinosa for her assistance in the concert. Spinosa is an art teacher at the school.
post a comment
comments (0)
no comments yet