Welcome back to RMC's monthly newsletter, The Set List!
In The Set List, you'll read about all the goings-on at RMC and then some! Learn more about our talented student body, learn about our teachers & their hidden skills, get the heads up about upcoming events, catch clips from our most recent events, & this month find out if any cluster of notes can really be turned into a chord!
This Week's Set List:
Welcome Wagon Upcoming Events
Recital Recap
Lobby Crashers Concert Series Liz & Liam Listen: Warm Ups Student Spotlight: Liam Kilbourn Teacher Feature: Jen Donato Teach the Teacher: Aidan Supranowitz - Tae Kwon Do
Jazz Chord or Utter Nonsense - Balloon Challenge Kooking with Kara - Sweet Potato Waffles EJ's Deep Thoughts & Track He's Listening To
Welcome Wagon
RMC is obviously the place to be! Welcome to the RMC family. We look forward to making music with you!
Dylan DuPlessis - Piano - Michael Witsberger
Kiran DuPlessis - Violin - Michael Witsberger
Tyler Katt - Drums - Harry Smith
Matt Coyne - Guitar - Dustin Sebes
Thomas Villarreal - Drums - Harry Smith
Reagan Boucher - Guitar - Liam Huges
Corey Hirschfeld - Guitar - Dustin Sebes
Sadie Rice - Piano - George Sheehy
Sam Rice - Piano - George Sheehy
Amelia Ing - Voice - Ryan Kiel
Owen Ing - Voice - Ryan Kiel
Jackson Lane - Trumpet - Dan Hutchinson
Wesley Davis - Drums - EJ Gaub
Kerry McVeigh - Guitar - George Sheehy
Benjamin Qualshie - Piano - Kim Rodriguez
Madelyn Qualshie - Piano - Kim Rodriguez
Jillian Greenberg - Piano - Kara Delonas
Upcoming Events
This month, we're hosting our Youth Art Month & Jazz Lounge Night!
March is Youth Art Month, and out RMC Curator, Margaret Smith, has once again turned the RMC halls into an art gallery full of art from local Westfield Students!
Come on out for an evening of art accompanied by our Jazz Lounge, featuring our RMC Jazz Ensemble and other RMC Students.
If you would like to sign up, click the flyer below!
Rockin' Recital Recap
Just a few weekends ago our students put on two killer shows at the Crossroads in Garwood. Our students came out and played a wide variety of music including rock, pop, country & even some indie. It was an amazing event!
Our next Rockin' Recital will be Saturday, June 20th.
Lobby Crashers
Did you know RMC has a professional recoding studio within its walls? Well this month, we had our inaugural Lobby Crashers Concert, where we invited two indie, singer-songwriters to come and record a live performance in our lobby.
This month's artists were Lady Queen Paradise & Lupia. Check out these video clips from their performances.
Liz & Liam Listen
This month, Liz & Liam answer a question from RMC parent, Marcy Paul, who's question got us talking about how to properly warm up the body for practicing and performing.
Additional Resources
Student Spotlight: Liam Kilbourn
This month's student spotlight is Liam Kilbourn! Liam takes clarinet lessons here at RMC, but don't let that fool you! He definitely knows how to rock. Liam performs in almost all of our RMC recitals. Keep an eye out for him in our future videos because he's sure to be in them.
Teacher Feature: Jen Donato
Jen Donato is one of our long-time piano and guitar teachers here at RMC and runs our RockShop Program. Outside of that, Jen is a member of the RMC Teacher Band and is currently working on her Master's Degree in social work so that she can continue to do what she loves to do best: helping others achieve any and all of their life and music goals.
RMC DIY: Rubix Cube Ottomans
Jen is also a master seamstress! She recently took on the project of converting our lobby's ottomans into Rubix Cubes in honor of our upcoming concert - oneRMC Presents the 80's!
Teach the Teacher: Aidan Supranowitz
This month, RMC student Adian Supranowitz, drummer extraordinaire, shows off one of his other amazing skills - being a Tae Kwon Do master! In this video, Aidan shows his teacher, EJ Gaub, some basic moves to help him navigate the rough halls of the RMC.
Will EJ be able to gain the skills necessary to become a Tae Kwon Do master? Watch to find out!
Jazz Chord or Utter Nonsense - Balloon Challenge
Can any combination of notes really be turned into a Jazz Chord?
Or is it simply Utter Nonsense??
This month, we asked this question to RMC Teacher and Jazz Musician, Dan Hutchinson and set him up against a special challenge with the help of some RMC students and their families.
Kooking with Kara
This month Kara shares with us another vegan variation on a classic recipe: waffles! Enjoy these vegan, low-fat sweet potato waffles for any occasion!
EJ's Deep Thoughts
Each month, the Set List likes to offer a moment of solace. A moment to take a step back and have a Deep Thought. To stop stressing about your homework for a moment, to take a quick break from the social media drama and join EJ in a little mind meditation as he lets you in on one of his recent wonderings.
Quote I am Pondering:
"You shouldn't give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don't care at all."
-Marcus Aurelius
This, to me, is one of those thoughts, phrases or pearls of wisdom that is as easy to understand as, "Hey, do you wanna drop a few pounds?....well stop eating sugar, carbs or anything else with its own commercial or logo."
........Yet, it is just as tough to execute in real time in the throws of daily life when the chaos is whipping around us like a cyclone. For me, I love to read, I am drawn to anything that allows me the sense of unplugging and looking inward. When I read, or go on walks or take a yoga class...I always feel refreshed and like my headspace is perfectly centered.....but what I failed to realize is that it's only half the work....that later in the day I cannot pick up my phone and freak on the telemarketer who is calling me for the 100th time.
No different than a basketball player practicing his jump-shot on an empty court. You can focus on technique, developing positive habits and building confidence and focus...just like reading, taking classes, meditating and unplugging.....but to truly conquer your objective, you have to be able to do it in the game, in those pressure moments when the lights are on.
This quote serves as that first step for me off the yoga mat, or upon closing the book or stepping back into my day......to understand that the only person who can truly make me feel anything is me. Circumstances are just the cards we are dealt each day, or moment to moment. They do not have a personality, motive or personal vendetta against me....although I was convinced my Jeep did for many years!
When I remind myself that I cannot control whatever circumstance presents itself, but can control my thoughts and actions towards it, it allows the process to slow down and many times provides me some insight that perhaps some of my own previous actions or thoughts contributed to these circumstances I find myself in, and that even though that may be the case...the actual manifestation of these circumstances is still indifferent to that, and to break the cycle I have to evolve my reaction to them.
Track I am Listening To:
"My Body"
Young the Giant
The debut single by the band Young the Giant was released in October 2010 with a physical CD release in January of 2011. Young the Giant is a group of high school friends from southern California who formed a 5-piece indie rock band in 2004.
Lead singer, Sameer Gadhia, claims the bands name is purposefully nonsensical, designed to evoke curiosity.
"My Body" was penned by the band in less than 10 minutes. The band had been struggling in the studio with the songwriting process and decided to just take a step back and start playing from a perspective of instinct and spontaneity rather than meditation and patience. The song started as a joke, to help the band release the tension they were feeling.
There have been many other chart-topping songs penned in under 10 minutes as well such as:
Ray Charles "What I'd Say"
Nicki Manaj "Super Bass"
The Guess Who "American Woman"
Lady Gaga "Just Dance"
Ed Sheeran "Photograph"
Adele "Hometown Glory"
Mumford and Sons "The Cave"
Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth "See You Again"
REM "Losing My Religion"
Beastie Boys "Fight For Your Right To Party"
The Beatles "Yesterday" (WHICH TOOK LESS THAN 1 MINUTE!!!)
Adele "Skyfall"
White Stripes "Seven Nation Army."
The song peaked at number 65 on the US Charts. It is in the key of B-flat and should be played at a tempo of 130 BPM.