Madeline Yang
Writer '20 The Great Neck Public Schools celebrated its 25th Annual faculty recital Thursday, October 27th at South High School. This year, there were many instrumental and vocal performers from all over the district. Not only did the faculty of Great Neck Public Schools perform,but many friends of the faculty that also performed at the recital. This year’s performances include a flute quartet, a singing duet, a viola, clarinet, and piano trio including Yo-Chang Ma, singing, jazz and much more. All money and donations received and raised were donated to the Music Scholarship Fund. But what really makes this recital so different from other musical performances in the district? “The beauty of this concert is that it’s not only music teachers that are performing in the concert.” Mr. Boyt, the math department head of Great Neck North Middle School, says. “For example, the teacher that I sang with tonight just happens to teach Spanish at North Middle. So you’re getting a wide variety of teacher in the district that come from a variety of different backgrounds and interests in music and yet it all happens to come together.” For the last two years in the district, Mr. Boyt has performed at each of the annual faculty recitals. In his first year, he performed “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Paul Simon, then “Thunder road” by Bruce Springsteen, and this year he performed a classical Italian duet from Figaro with Ms. Mangiacapre. He started singing “probably as a baby” and has performed and sang throughout his childhood and high school career. In addition, Mr. Boyt also took classical voice training when he was in college. |
Samuel Calto
Writer '19 Music produced by Great Neck Public School teachers and friends filled the music room on Thursday, October 27th, where the 25th annual District Faculty Recital was held at 7pm. The faculty recital at South High has been a continuing tradition for the school district. This year, 25 faculty members, playing instruments and singing, performed in 15 segments for the audience. The entire production, which ran for about two and a half hours, was filmed by GNPS TV, a group of GNPS students. Although there was no entry fee, many attendees provided donations. These donations were for the Music Scholarship Fund. Music played ranged in many genres, including classical and show music. Songs like "Heroes" by David Bowie and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2 were played, along with songs like "Duettino" from The Marriage of Figaro. Some performances were done in groups, such as flute quartets. Many performers worked together for a few choice songs, such as "Younger than Springtime" from South Pacific. Moreover, performers included music teachers and non-music teachers. The show's first and one of its more notable segments was when the JEY trio performed the Kegelstatt Trio by Mozart. The trio consisted of Joseph Rutkowski on clarinet, Elinor Zayas on piano, and Yeou-Cheng Ma, sister of the famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma, on the viola. The JEY trio played beautifully, and soothed the crowd. This was not the trio's only performance; they had played at other locations prior to this event, but they nailed this performance. It was a great start to a great concert. Another good segment was when Principal Kaplan himself played his guitar, accompanied by a few other faculty members. Playing his own composed tunes, Mr. Kaplan played choice songs like "Honey Bunny", "You Give Me Love", and "With You." Mr. Kaplan's tunes moved the audience with a steady beat, and was an enjoyed piece by everyone in the audience. The finale was "My Fair Lady" by Richard Rodgers. The music staff of the district performed along with others who had performed in other segments of the recital. Uniting many teachers was a great way to represent the district. The cooperation of teachers working together relayed the message that the district was united, even if schools were distinct from each other. Senior Vanessa Kordmany, who attended the recital commented, "my favorite part about the faculty recital is how you can see all of these teachers, not even music teachers, and discover that they have these talents in singing or playing the piano or any other musical talent that you really wouldn’t have expected before. You don’t need to have a degree or specialize in a field in order to share music with others." For those that missed the chance to attend this wonderful event, they can be sure to mark it in their calendar to attend next year. |