May 2 Update

Good Morning ROCmusic Families!

This week we will have regular classes through ROCmusic Music.

We have several concerts coming this month:

Detailed information for each concert will come home with the students before the event!

May 11 and May 12 - RPO Side-by-Side (@ Gantt and @ Edgerton)

May 20 and May 21 - ROCmusic/ ArtID Showcase (@the Yards in the Public Market)

Week of May 30th - ROCmusic Rhythm Section Showcase (@ Gantt)

June 10 - End of Semester ROCmusic Concert (@ Gantt)

Thank you for your support to get us to this point - our students are excited to perform!

Keep watching our social media and our website for updates and information.

Thank you and have a great day!

Onward!

April 28 Update

Good Afternoon ROCmusic Families,

I am very excited that finally our awesome ROCmusic students will get to perform on a concert with the RPO. The COVID Rules currently prevent us from performing at Kodak Hall or with the full orchestra at all. However, both the RPO and ROCmusic are committed to this experience for our students. We will be presenting a concert with two RPO chamber ensembles: String Quartet and Brass Quintet! The students will get to rehearse, share a meal, and perform with musicians from the RPO.

For this event our Readiness Strings Will wear:

their new Blue shirts (to be passed out next week), black/dark Pants, and dress/dark shoes. Yes, if it is cold on May 11/12 the student should wear a long sleeve underneath their ROCmusic Shirt.

For this even our studio Strings and Brass/ HCT students will wear:

their Red ROCmusic Shirts, black/dark Pants, and dress/dark shoes. Yes, if it is cold on May 11/12 the student should wear a long sleeve underneath their ROCmusic Shirt.

Dinner for both nights will be pizza, drink, and a dessert. WE WILL NEED PARENT ASSISTANCE TO FEED THE STUDENTS - please email info@rocmusic.org if you are willing to assist.

Here are the details for the Two Concerts (May 11 and May 12)

(Yes, all String and Brass students are playing in both concert)

May 11th - May 11th RPO Side-by-side (Gantt R-Center, 700 North Street - park on the West (Norton) side of the building )

  • 4:00 PM -rehearsal for ROCmusic

  • 5:00 PM - Combined rehearsal with RPO

  • 6:00 PM - Dinner for all (to push interaction with RPO)

  • 7:00 PM - Show (subject to change)

Program Order:

  • Readiness Strings

  • Studio Strings

  • RPO String Quartet

  • String Combined - D Maj Jam

  • ROCmusic Brass + HCT

  • Brass Quintet

  • Full Combine - Ode to Joy


May 12th RPO Side-by-side (Edgerton R-Center, 41 Backus St)

  • 4:00 PM -rehearsal for ROCmusic

  • 5:00 PM - Combined rehearsal with RPO

  • 6:00 PM - Dinner for all (to push interaction with RPO)

  • 7:00 PM - Show (subject to change)

Program Order:

  • Readiness Strings

  • Studio Strings

  • RPO String Quartet

  • String Combined - D Maj Jam

  • ROCmusic Brass + HCT

  • Brass Quintet

  • Full Combine - Ode to Joy

We are so thankful for the RPO and their continued partnership. Let me know if you have additional questions!

Onward!

April 12 Update

Good Morning ROCmusic Families,


It has come to my attention that the R-Centers will be closed on Friday, April 15th - therefore we cannot hold our usual String Orchestra, Bucket Drumming, and Private Lessons on Friday.
I apologize that we did not know about this schedule change earlier - this must have happened after I stopped being a City of Rochester employee. We will make sure we go through the rest of the schedule to ensure there are no additional schedule conflicts.


Yes - We will still have classes today through Thursday. (April 12 - 14)
Next week, we do not have ROCmusic Classes - Spring Break.


However, this is a great time to participate in at least three of the five Gateways Music Festival Events.
All Gateways Events can be found here:https://www.gatewaysmusicfestival.org/quickview-2022-schedule

Specifically the free events for ROCmusic Families (links for free tickets):Tuesday, April 19 (4:30 - 6:00 PM @ Gantt R-Center) - YMI: Parent ChatWednesday, April 20 (2:00 - 4:00 PM @ Eastman School of Music) - YMI: Master ClassWednesday, April 20 (7:30 PM @ Kodak Theatre - Eastman School of Music) - Gateways Music Festival Orchestra (Free ticket code: GMFROCMUSIC)


Additionally, we have been talking about it but it is CONFIRMED: ROCmusic will perform the RPO Musicians on May 11 and 12. All invited students will perform both nights! More details coming soon!


Have a great day!

Onward!

April 9 Update - Gateways Music Festival Opportunities

Good Afternoon ROCmusic Families and Rochester Music Friends.

ONLY ONE WEEK BEFORE THE GATEWAYS MUSIC FESTIVAL!!!!

I am so excited about the opportunities available for our local families. Please share these with all Rochester area people you know - especially the parents forum on Tuesday. Come share a meal with us!!

Information about and to purchase tickets/ register for events can be found at this link.

Rochester Events

  1. Monday, April 18 @ 7:30 PM - Gateways Pianists

  2. Tuesday, April 19 @ 4:30 PM - YMI: Parent Chat (At the Gantt R-Center)

  3. Tuesday, April 19 @ 6:30 PM - Florence Price Film Screening and Lecture

  4. Wednesday, April 20 @ 10:00 AM Open Gateways Orchestra Rehearsal 

  5. Wednesday, April 20 @ 2:00 PM - YMI: Master Class for Pre-Professional Students

  6. Wednesday April 20 @ 7:30 PM - Gateways Orchestra

NYC Events - Use this event listing to tell your family and friends in the NYC area! The tickets to the Carnegie Hall concert are almost sold out. 

YMI: Parent Chat is a conversation about supporting your child in his/her musical studies, motivating your child to practice, managing at-home practice time, what to do if your child is interested in pursuing a career in music, and more. You should ask frank questions and get feedback from amazing professional musicians: Lucinda Ali-Landing (founder of the Hyde Park Suzuki School) and Herb Smith (Trumpet/ Conductor). We are looking for an amazing conversation around supporting our young musicians. There will be food (Jamaican food from Peppa Pot) and a safe space for children(6 - 18 yrs old) is available during this event. Babies and toddlers are welcome in the event. All are welcome! PLEASE REGISTER HERE

YMI: Master Class is a great opportunity to see students from the Black Student Union at the Eastman School of Music perform and receive feedback and advice on how to continue their improvement. In a master class learning happens for all participants and audience members. Come see the possibilities for all our

All Rochester Families Should all be at the Wednesday April 20th Gateways Orchestra Concert 4/20/22 @ 7:30 PM. All tickets should be registered beforehand. 

PLEASE REGISTER HERE

The Week of April 18th is spring break for RCSD and ROCmusic, creating more space to attend these historic events. Please consider joining by reserving your tickets to all events now. 

Please contact Dr. Hall. (Ahall@gatewaysmusicfestival.org) if you have additional questions.

March 28 Update

Good evening ROCmusic Families,

The return of the cooler weather will not slow down our young musicians' progress. There are more opportunities and performances coming very soon - all leading to the final concert on June 10th (in collaboration with the School 12 String program).

Items for this week:

1. Please continue to use info@rocmusic.org to communicate absences.

2. Please revisit the Gateways Music Festival schedule (https://iguana-hibiscus-cehn.squarespace.com/quickview-2022-schedule). Remember, our ROCmusic families get free tickets using the “GMFROCMUSIC” promo code.

The parent chat, master class, and Wednesday night concert will be specifically aimed at our young musicians and their families.

3. ROCmusic clothing and gear!! - We are excited to announce a partnership with Instant Monogramming, Inc (owned by ROCmusic Parent - Rebecca Hetherington). Check out all the very cool ROCmusic gear you can get to support your young musicians and help spread the word. A portion of all sales goes to ROCmusic. Enjoy! Help spread the word! https://rksboutique.net/roc-music

This past week your young musicians:

- received a concert at School 19 by AfroHorn, a fantastic jazz group from NYC

- participated in the 3 Annual ROCmusic Cello day on March 26th (Facebook photos coming soon). We had over 30 cellist from around the Greater ROchester participate in masterclasses, sessions, and our largest cello choir. Bravo to all the students and the ROCmusic Cello team (Rachel, Amanda, and Katie) for all your work to seeing this beautiful day happen.

This coming week your young musicians will:

- participate in amazing classes

- 5 students will represent ROCmusic at an East Coast event for young musicians. We pray for safe travels and a wonderful. experience for everyone in Connecticut and thank their families for traveling with them.

- 6 students will perform with ROCmusic teachers at the “If Food Be the Music” benefit concert on April 3rd. Please see the flyer attached.

Thank you for everything you do to keep your students involved in music!

Onward!

March 23 Update - RPO Tickets

Good Morning Everyone,

It has come to my attention of an error in our Google Form for this week's RPO Ticket Request.

I have redone the form - please reserve tickets to the concerts please use this form:

https://forms.gle/wJG8RjZj2ceHZLPT7

I am sorry for this issue - on the old form I had 4 families sign up. Please sign up again so that you do not need to worry about getting tickets. I will also make sure the information has been passed on to the RPO!

Speaking of which - our students will be playing with the Musicians of the RPO on two successive nights - May 11 and May 12th! More info soon!

I hope to see you all at the RPO concerts. The Sunday concert is designed for children and families! Please take pictures and put them on our facebook! Please need to see our families in the community!

Also - Cello Day this Saturday!

March 20 Update

Good Afternoon ROCmusic Families,

I hope that everyone is having a great weekend.

We have some exciting opportunities coming up soon that will be detailed in this email.

Transition Update: Over a week ago, the posting for my replacement was officially listed. The leaders of the ROCmusic Collaborative are operating a nation-wide search for the next leader of ROCmusic. I will continue to facilitate the continuing of programming until a new leader is identified. I am happy to announce that we have filling the position of Site/ Program Manager in ROCmusic with Mr. Paul Boutte. I am sure many of you know Mr. Boutte already - he has worked in the program for a year as an AmeriCorps Volunteer. He is a world-renowned pianist and music producer that lives in Rochester and really cares about giving our youth the joy of music. Please welcome Mr. Boutte into our ROCmusic Community when you see him next. I will continue to update you all. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please promote the job (posting in last week's update), we will be creating a survey for families about your needs from ROCmusic.

Items for this week:

1. Attendance - There were many absences and a lot of our families did a great job communicating that with our teachers. Please make sure you let us know if someone needs to be absent so our teachers can effectively plan. We have many concerts coming up and want our students to feel good about the upcoming performances.

2. RPO Tickets - fill out this form for Free Tickets to three concerts this week:

The next two concerts in our series are March 24 (@7:30 PM) and 26 (@8:00 PM) and March 27 (@ 2:00 PM). The Thursday and Saturday Concerts are feature the amazing piano concerto from Beethoven “The Emperor Concert” and a new piece by Sarah Kirkland Schneider. The Sunday Concert is at the Hochstein School and is a children’s concert led by ROCmusic instructor and world famous musician, Herb Smith! He created a story about diversity and acceptance featuring the greatest instrument: The Clarinet!

3. Gateways Music Festival information Coming out this week! Save the dates April 18, 19, and 20, 2022

4. Our performance with the Rocehster Philharmonic Musicians is being moved to May 2022. More details will emerge this week. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to perform with these amazing musicians for you. Regular attendance to classes will be important for a successful performance

5. ROCmusic Cello Day is this Saturday! Come visit us at the Edgerton R-Center on Saturday for this fun event!

Thank you all for your continued support of your young musicians.

See you soon,

Onward!

March 14 Update

Good Evening ROCmusic Families,

I hope everyone had a good weekend.

This week we are running a full class schedule at ROCmusic.

Items for this week:

1. Congratulations to the Readiness Beginning Strings and the Vocal Production Classes on their performance at the Black History Gala this past Thursday. Our students did a great job and provided beautiful music for a large crowd (with plenty of spacing)! Congratulations to Mrs. Mills, Mr. Sean, and Mr. Boutte. Watch our social media for pictures

2. This week will begin the registration process for the next set of RPO Tickets. Mark your calendar and look for the google doc to sign up for the free tickets.

March 24 and 26 - Emperor Concert (Piano Concerto) - 7:30 PM and 8:00 PM (respectively)

March 27 - Clarinet and His Friends (conducted by our friend Herb Smith) - 2:00 PM

3. The Gateways Music Festival will be hosting its annual residency during the week of April 18th. We will not be having regular ROCmusic Classes. We will have special events for ROCmusic Families. Please save these dates and times:

- April 18 @ 7:30 PM - Gateways Pianists Concert

- April 19, @4:30 PM - Parent Chat with Lucinda Ali-Landing (Hyde Park Suzuki) and Herb Smith (RPO) answer parent questions and offer advice for all families of young musicians.

- April 19, @ 5:00 PM - Movie and Lecture about the life of Florence Price

- April 20, @ 2:30 PM - Black Student Union Master Class

- April 20, @ 7:30 PM - Gateways Orchestra Concert (Free for all ROCmusic Families)

4. We hope that all eligible families will consider applying for additional music opportunities through our ECMS Pathways (free lessons and a possible scholarship to the University of Rochester) and Hochstein School partners.

5. We will be having several fundraising events this spring. Please consider helping as you can, but more importantly, spreading the message about our organization and the amazing young musicians involved.

6. ANNOUNCEMENT - We have officially been able to hire Mr. Paul Boutte to act as full time instructor and assistant program manager. We are very excited to have him on as a full time position - his experience as a professional musician and long-time Rocehster resident will be a wonderful resource for our young musicians. He has worked with the Rhythm Section program for over a year and now he will be involved with the entire program.

Have a great week - please continue to communicate with us about the needs for your family. Also, it is time to begin to promote the summer and fall classes.

Enjoy the warmer weather!

Onward!

March 7 Update

Good Morning ROCmusic Families,

I hope everyone enjoyed the "recording setting" weather this past weekend.

Now that we are back to normal weather, we can at least be excited that we have regular ROCmusic Classes this week. I look forward to seeing everyone in class as we prepare for the busy spring season!

Items for considerations this week:

Safety Protocols:

- In accordance with existing rules, we are asking all faculty to continue wearing masks in our classes. We are suggesting that all students continue wearing masks for safety and out of respect for others. We will continue with our 3 feet spacing of classes. If you decide for your student not to wear a mask, we will completely respect that decision.

RPO Concerts:

- We will be soon sending out the Google Form for the next Free RPO Tickets -

Emperor Concerto - March 24 & 26 (Thursday and Saturday)

Clarinet and His Friends - Mar 27 (Sunday)

DRHS Black History Gala - Thursday, March 10 (@6:00 PM)

- This Thursday our Readiness Strings program will perform as a part of the Black History Gala at the Edgerton R-Center. Please feel free to come and support our students and the other acts at the Gala.

Gateways Music Festival (April 18 - 20)

ROCmusic students and families will have great access to tickets to concerts and events. Please look out for these opportunities and take advantage of them immediately.

Please continue to communicate with us regarding absences and student well-being. Thank you for being so communicative.

Thank you for sharing your students with us.

Onward!

March 2 Update

Good Morning Everyone,

It is so wonderful to see everyone back after the mid-winter break. We have had two days of great classes!

Here are a couple of mid-week items to bring to your attention:

1. RPO Tickets for Tomorrow and Saturday

The RPO Had some last minute tickets open up for the performances this week and wanted to offer them to our families first. The concert (details listed here) is packed with fantastic music inspired by, originating from, and honoring Latin America. The times are (Thursday) March 3 @ 7:30 PM and (Saturday) March 5 @ 8:00 PM

This is a special opportunity so we will not use the google form - if interested please contact Christopher Amick at Patron Services 585-454-2100

We will resume normal ticket requests via Google form in the future.

Also, please be aware of RPO Healthy Policies (https://rpo.org/protocols/)

2. Health Procedures at ROCmusic

There have been some changes to City, County, and school Policies around masking, especially within the last 24 hours. ROCmusic has taken the approach of caution due to the community nature of our work. I am so thankful that we have all made the sacrifice to keep classes going in ROCmusic. The fact that our program persisted and thrived during the pandemic is a testament to your commitment to your young musician's success.

I would request that in the immediate (this week) we continue our current procedures of masking and spacing in ROCmusic classes. This will give us more time to review the changes and select the best path forward for us. My main concerns are safety and student/ family comfort level. I will be able to explain more by Sunday. Thank you for your patience!

3. Transitions

I wanted to let everyone know I will begin to transition out of my position at the ROCmusic Collaborative. I have so enjoyed working with you all to create a program for our children with which I hope you are all proud. This move will create more time for me to focus more on my family and explore additional parts of my career. ROCmusic's offerings for our children in Rochester are crucial to their development and exploration of themselves and their community. The ROCmusic Collaborative (the seven organizations who guide and support or work) is committed to continued programming and stability during this transition. I will be continuing to lead the administrative staff and programming until a new leader has been identified. I will be joining the Gateways Music Festival as the Director of Programming and look forward to bringing ROCmusic students and families into special activities.

Have a great day everyone,

Onward!

February 13 Update

Good evening ROCmusic families,

I hope everyone is having an amazing weekend.

This week we have a full schedule of classes.

Items to be aware of:

1. Three (3) opportunities to see the RPO perform this weekend - Request your tickets here

2. Next week - During the RCSD Winter Recess (2/21 - 25) there will be no ROCmusic classes.

3. Possible Performances in March - our teachers will be contacting parents about performing as a part of the:

March 3rd @ 6 PM - DRHS Black History Health Fair @ Ryan R-Center

March 10th @ 6 PM - DRSH Black History Gala @ Edgerton R-Center

March 26th - Cell Day @ Edgerton R-Center

April 3rd - "If there be food" concert series

There will be more information coming home soon with specifics

The current policy at R-Centers is to remain masked at all times. ROCmusic plans to continue this policy in the event of changes in the near future.

Thank you for everything you are doing to keep our students safe, including keeping students home when they are ill, letting us know about quranatines, and keeping the students masked! Our health is the key to our success.

On Friday, we had the listening party for our MLK Winter Residency. Here are the rough-cut tracks our students created with Producer Bobby!

Track 1

Track 2

Have a great week!

Onward,
Dr. Armand Hall

February 10 Update

Good Morning ROCmusic Families,

I hope everyone is enjoying the slightly warmer weather.

There are a couple of items that I need to inform you about ASAP!

1. Mayor Evan's has announced that ALL R-Centers will be closed this Friday, February 11th. This means that there will be NO Studio Strings (Gantt), Readiness Lessons (Edgerton), or HCT Mentorship classes. For all families whose students are dropped off at a local R-Center via the school bus system, they will need to get home immediately.

2. Via a partnership with the United Way of Rochester, every student in ROCmusic will be given a COVID test kit for home use. Each student will receive one COVID Test Kit (two tests), and then will be given per request until supplies run out. We will begin sending them home today at the Edgerton and School 12 classes.

3. Friday, please join us online for our 2020 MLK Residency Reflection @4:30 PM. Here you will meet Dr. Sonia, Dr. Dan, Producer Bobby and the rest of the team. The unveiling of the composition will happen during this 1 hour live zoom event. Please join us.

https://rochester.zoom.us/j/91634627492
Meeting ID: 916 3462 7492

4. Information about the tickets to the RPO John Williams Concert will come out later today! I hope everyone can take advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

Have a great day!

Onward!

February 6 Update

Good Afternoon ROCmusic Families,

WOW! What a week we just finished. I have never had to cancel ROCmusic Classes two days in a row. However, the safety of our community is always paramount! I hope there were lots of snow people, forts, and sledding taking place.

This week we plan to resume our regular schedule for classes. As you are aware, we activated our REMIND communication system this past week. If you did not receive a message (via text or email) from us about the classes - please join our reminder system with a working cell phone number of your choice.

REMIND Sign-up Directions

Attendance: If your young musician needs to be absent for any reason - please contact us ASAP to let us - infor@rocmusic.org, REMIND App, or the calling the office (585 - 428.9944)

Contact from ROCmusic Interns and Volunteers:

You may receive emails or phone calls from people representing ROCmusic and I want you to know they are not spam. These wonderful people are integral to the success of our students.

Their names are Megan Hendrix (Eastman ALP Intern), Brian Stewart (Eastman ALP Intern), Jasen Monroe (AmeriCorps), and Dawn Hobbs (AmeriCorps). Thank you for communicating with them.

Upcoming Eventss

2/11 - 2022 ROCmusic MLK Residency Listening Party @ 4:30 PM (Virtual and in-person)

2/18 & 2/19 - Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra - John Williams Concert @ 8:00 PM

2/20 - Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Orchestra - OrKIDStra Concert @ 2:00 PM

2/21 - 2/25 - Winter Break - No ROCmusic Classes

Reminder:

Please make sure your students have well-fitting Masks when coming to an ROCmusic rehearsal.

If someone is ill, please keep them home and inform us of their absence. We will continue to highlight COVID resources available in our community.

Have a great week!

Onward!

January 19 Update

Good Morning ROCmusic Families,

I am very excited for the beginning of regular classes, starting next week.

Within the next few days, everyone will receive a call just to confirm your spot on the ROCmusic roster. We want to make sure we have enough room for the new families starting next week.


In the meantime here are some important links/ ideas to consider:

- All ROCmusic information is available on the website (www.ROCmusic.org) in the parent login, the password is “ROCmusic4life"

- the live calendar is here

- Please follow us on social media and join our Facebook parents group

- If there have been changes in your contact information please fill out this form

- If you have not selected electives for your students (not available for Readiness students yet) please fill out this form

These things will set us up well. This semester we will continue to use email, website, social media, and REMIND to communicate with everyone.

We are finishing our MLK Winter Residency this week in collaboration with The Archipelago Project and ArtID International. I look forward to the listening party on February 4th for the premiere of their composition.

For your listening and sharing pleasure :

2021 Winter Recital

2021 MLK Recital Track 1

2021 MLK Recital Track 2

I am very excited about this semester we have planned!

Let us know if you have questions!

Onward!