For the last seven years, Piero Romano, the music teacher at both Webster and Roosevelt schools in Weehawken, has conducted a musical concert involving Roosevelt’s third through sixth graders.
The concert has been the highlight of the school year for many of these students, who spent countless hours of their own free time learning to play the recorder (third and fourth graders) and guitar (fifth and sixth graders) in order to perform in the concert.
Last Wednesday, the 90-plus students of Roosevelt once again astounded two audiences with their musical abilities, performing a variety of classical and contemporary tunes with sensational results.
Even the teacher was impressed with their performances.
“I think it’s one of the best concerts we’ve ever had,” said Romano, who has been a music teacher in the district for over a decade. “The children were very enthusiastic and eager to learn. It was a beautiful concert and they all did a nice job. I was very impressed.”
Romano said that this year’s concert was a little special for many reasons. First, the program was expanded to include four groups of musicians (those learning the recorder for the first time, then the more advanced, and the same for the guitar players).
“It made the program a little long,” Romano said. “But it was well worth it.”
One of the highlights of the program was a beautiful guitar solo by sixth grader Jorge Cortez, who played “El Condor Paso.”
Romano particularly liked a song performed by Gail Job and Vittoriana Camporale, who played and sang, “Let’s Get Together,” from the movie, “The Parent Trap.”
“They both have great voices,” Romano said. “They were like song birds.”
Sixth grader Pilar Romano (no relation to the teacher) and her brother, third grader Jacob, performed a duet, with Pilar on the guitar and Jacob on the recorder.
Another highlight was the performance done by a trio affectionately known as “The Three Amigos,” namely Nathaniel Keating, James McMahon and Richard Turner (the mayor’s son), who performed “America the Beautiful” on the recorder.
The evening was then capped by a performance of “This Land is Your Land” and “God Bless America,” which made everyone in the audience stand up and sing along with the musicians.
“It definitely had a patriotic theme to it,” said Kate McMahon, the president of the Roosevelt Parent-Teacher Organization, which helped to sponsor the concert. “It was a nice showcase of a lot of talent, a nice well-rounded show. It really is amazing, the way that Mr. Romano gets kids in third grade to read music, play the music and perform in front of all those people. I was definitely impressed.”
Plaque presented
After the concert, McMahon, on behalf of the Roosevelt PTO, presented a plaque to Roosevelt School Principal Anthony LaBruno.
“Our organization wanted to recognize the leadership that Mr. LaBruno provides the school,” McMahon said. “He has so much school spirit, enthusiasm and pride in the school. He’s never one to toot his own horn, so we decided to honor him. Our parents feel that we have an open communication with him. He lives by the motto, ‘Partners in Learning,’ meaning the parents and the teachers together. He really does a great job.”
Romano said that he credited the dedication of the students.
“They came to school at 7:30 in the morning for rehearsals,” Romano said. “They really worked hard and gave up their free time for the concert. They were a very enthusiastic group and they had a lot of fun. It showed in their performances.”