It’s not quite two years after Grace Lutheran and Trinity Episcopal churches joined forces to start the Hand in Hand music school, and things are going even better than expected.
“The school has grown dramatically in its first year and a half,” said Arthur Murray, the program’s director. “There are now five teachers and close to 40 students taking mostly private lessons on a wide variety of instruments.”
According to Murray, the mission of the school is to offer accessible music education to the young people in the community in order to foster growth of body, mind, and spirit to contribute to a balanced, positive and creative life. He noted that this program is designed to enhance programs already found in the local schools – not replace them – by offering students additional opportunities to hone their craft.
“The school has grown dramatically in its first year and a half.” — Arthur Murray
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The concert will feature classical, jazz, and popular seasonal music for brass, organ, flute, and a jazz ensemble; and holiday vocals by Hand in Hand Musical School staff members and other professionals. Bayonne’s own The Twelve Thirty Then’s rock band will also perform.
Murray said the school was following in the footsteps of Joan Rosen, who for many years served as the arts director for the public schools in Bayonne. He said Rosen inspired many children to pick up instruments, and it is the goal of Hand in Hand to help students – from the slowest learners to the most advanced – continue.
The scholarship program is one of the key elements in the school since a majority of the students receive financial assistance to some degree, and this allows the school to not turn students away for lack of funds.
“Of course, this can only continue as long as we continue to hold successful fundraisers,” he said.
The teachers at the school have very impressive biographies and have a network of professional musicians in every field that they have associated with over the years.
Murray has a bachelor of music degree from the University of Victoria and a master’s degree of music from Rice University in Houston, Texas. Over the years, he has performed regularly with several New York and New Jersey orchestras and as a soloist at several churches in Manhattan. He is the founder of the Central Park Brass Quintet, and has served as teaching artist at the Midori and Friends Foundation in Harlem, N.Y.
Sylvain Leroux teaches flute, clarinet, saxophone, guitar, bass, and percussion. He studied classical music at Vincent d’Indy and at the University of Montreal, and attended the legendary Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, N.Y., where he participated in workshops led by world-class musicians. He has been active on the North American jazz and world music scene for more than 30 years as a performer, band leader, composer, arranger, and producer. He has taught music and instruments for more than 35 years, both privately and in classrooms. He has conceived and led academic programs for the Metropolitan Museum, Lincoln Center, and public schools.
Librettist/lyricist Kim Rich Norton is a graduate of the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J., with a bachelor of music education. She is the administrative liaison for the Hand in Hand Music School, and also teaches piano, violin, and voice. As music director, Kim has been privileged to work with the Jewish Community Center Players on three recent musicals: “Rocky Horror,” “Rent,” and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”