Welcome Back to the GNNMS Music Dept 2015-2016!!
During the academic year the Choral and Instrumental performing groups present concerts and recitals by our talented performers for the enrichment of our student body, faculty, parents and the community. The musicians experience the joy and reward of producing live music for a live audience. The performances of our students contribute significantly to the cultural climate of our school and community, and by helping students find values through aesthetic experiences, we seek to make our students more sensitive, discerning and creatively aware persons. These activities include: Musical Comedy in December, Instrumental Concert in December, Choral Concert in January, Chamber Music and 6th Grade Concert in March, Choral Concert in May, Instrumental Concert in June, and the Farewell Assembly in June. Instrumental and choral chamber groups perform in several capacities such as: Open School Night, the Shakespeare Celebration and 6th Grade Orientation.
There is an emphasis on the daily process of learning in the music classrooms and encouragement of daily individual practice after school hours. The commitment of daily home practice, good attendance and punctuality, concentration and respect for others in rehearsal and performance transfers to higher and more important forms of commitment in later years. This idea of commitment is one of the most significant objectives that is met through music performance classes. Concerts and NYSSMA are extremely important but not goals. They are the culmination of the daily work in the classroom and home practice. Everyday, the teachers and students treat the class in Chorus, Band and Orchestra as a public performance or open rehearsal. There exists a rich history of musicians who have directed our performing groups since the Great Neck Junior High School was constructed: History
There exists a rich history of musicians who have directed our performing groups since the Great Neck Junior High School was constructed:
HISTORY OF INSTRUMENTAL DIRECTORS OF GREAT NECK NORTH MIDDLE SCHOOL 1952-1966 Orchestra & Band Howard Prutting Hartford Conservatory, Columbia University 1966-1991 Orchestra & Band Earl Higgins Juilliard, Columbia University 1991-1999 Orchestra & Band Joseph Rutkowski Mannes, Queens College 1992-1997 Orchestra & Band Michael Schwartz Mannes, Manhattan School of Music 1997-1999 Orchestra & Band Alan Schwartz Queens College 1999-2002 Orchestra & Band James P. Kiernan Purchase 2002-2008 Orchestra & Band Joseph Cotignola Fredonia, Hofstra University 2008- Orchestra & Band Matthew Trinkwald Five Towns College, Queens College 2011- 6th Gr. Orchestra & Band Jacquelyn Tomlet Manhattan School of Music, Queens College HISTORY OF Choral DIRECTORS OF GREAT NECK NORTH MIDDLE SCHOOL 1952-1964 Choir George Rose 1964-1978 Choir Robert Shelansky 1978-1980 Choir Dr. Alvin Pinter Milwaukee Teachers, Columbia University 1980-2013 Choir Denise Eisner Ithaca College, Queens College, C. W. Post 2013 - Choir Arielle Murdocco |
Staff
Matt Trinkwald Department Chair, Instrumental and Classroom Music
Jacquelyn Tomlet Instrumental and Classroom Music Arielle Murdocco Choral Director and Classroom Music Important Dates
**Important Dates to note for the 2015-2016 school year
North Middle Open House – September 3 Faculty Recital – October 22 LISFA Secondary – November 13 through November 15 North High Musical – November 13,14 North Middle One Acts – November 24 7th and 8th Grade Winter Concert – December 16 All County – January 6 through January 17 6th Grade Winter Concert – February 9 LISFA Elementary – February 26 through February 28 NYSSMA Piano – March 18,19 North Middle Musical - March 18,19 North Middle 6th Grade Orientation – March 23 NYSSMA Levels 1-4 – April 8,9 NYSSMA Levels 5-6 – May 4,5 7th and 8th Grade Spring Concert and Art Show - May 12 GNNMS Talent Show – May 25 6th Grade Spring Concert– June 9 Remember- - - these are TENTATIVE! Quote
A quote we'd like to share with you from New York Times music critic Paul Griffiths (Sunday, March 22, 1998, AR 37):
"Music seems to hook into parts of the brain that have to do with mathematical and language abilities. . . A child involved in a musical performance is confronted with challenges that will be of lifelong benefit: how you present yourself in public, how you argue a case, how you interpret a document, what evidence you accept and what you question, where you draw the limit between what you are told and what you want, how you work with others toward a common goal. . . Then there are the values that music has in and of itself: the values of giving expression to a thought or a feeling without going through words, the values of phrasing that expression so that it can be understood by others, the values of asserting the importance of things (musical works) that have no physical existence or monetary worth, the values of stimulation and training the experience of sound and of what sound can mean." Should you happen to be entering the building from the parking lot and you hear the sounds of a middle school band, chorus or orchestra rehearsing, we invite you to come to room 155 to watch the chorus rehearse or room 229 to watch the band or orchestra rehearsal. Please remember to follow school procedures and sign in at the Main Office first before taking the opportunity to visit our "open rehearsals." Our students always perform better when they have an audience. Links
You can also find out what North Middle Music Alumni are doing now by visiting the North High Music Dept at http://www.greatneck.k12.ny.us/GNPS/NHS/music/music.php
Finally, please check out these website links: Even A Few Years Of Music Training Benefits The Brain http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/2012/08/21/even-a-few-years-of-music-training-benefits-the-brain/ Early Music Lessons Have Longtime Benefits http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/early-music-lessons-have-longtime-benefits/?ref=todayspaper |