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At 18, a Kennedy graduate is a master violinist
Second in a series on Bellmore-Merrick students of the arts.
Luke Massaro’s violin was created 197 years before he was born.
Last month, the 18-year-old recent Kennedy High School graduate stepped into an East Meadow violin shop to purchase a new violin. He was determined to find the right one, emphasizing that each violin is unique to its owner.
After trying out several in the shop, and even taking a few home for further testing, he finally purchased a Klotz violin— a model crafted by a family of German violinmakers in the mid-18th century. Made in 1797, the instrument’s antiquity is what appealed to him, Massaro said.
“Of all the ones I tried, I really liked the history in the one that I got,” said Massaro, of Bellmore. “Not only did it have the best sound, but I really did think it was interesting that so many people must have played it before. It’s gotten passed down through a lot of hands.”
The Klotz violin is Massaro’s second violin he’s owned since he began playing in third grade. As a student at Winthrop Avenue Elementary School in Bellmore, he said he chose the instrument once he was offered the opportunity to play in the school’s orchestra. “I just remember that I wanted to play one of them,” he said of the string instruments. “I don’t remember actually choosing the violin. Apparently, that’s what I really wanted to, though.”
Nine years later, it’s clear that he made the right choice. In May, he was named for the second time as a Bellmore-Merrick Cultural Arts Council honoree. He was also named an All-State instrumentalist once and an All-County instrumentalist seven times. And he has participated in the New York State School Music Association solo competition and the Long Island String Festival Association’s annual concert.
“He is truly a once-in-a-career kind of student,” said Kimberly Flynn, the orchestra director at Kennedy High School. “He’s an exceptional musician, but he’s also the most humble kid you will ever meet. He never boasts about himself or brags, and he’s so helpful to the other students.”
