Letting them sing, dance and play

Lawrence High School senior Katy Miller remembers being 4-years-old and singing a song from the movie Titanic in the middle of a nail salon, junior Nicole Eras plays the alto saxophone as a stress reliever, sophomore Carina Kohn seeks self expression through song writing and freshman Ryan Bae takes pleasure in performing.

These students are only four of the approximately 400 students involved in the Christina Mazzitelli Academy of Fine and Performing Arts within the high school. The academy is named in memory of a high school fine arts student. However, listening to them speak about why they perform and reviewing what the program has to offer it’s not a surprise what they accomplish.

The education begins in elementary school and continues through middle school, where District Music Coordinator Pam Gallopini said the amount of participating students is even larger than at the high school. “We work at the elementary level with the teachers in the classroom and at the middle school the fifth- and sixth-graders see what shows the eighth-graders are doing and look forward to doing that,” said Gallopini, who has taught in Lawrence for 28 years.

Buckley pointed to the Side by Side program, where members of the high school chorus perform and travel with the world class New York Collegiate Chorale. “It’s incredible, no other school on Long Island does that,” said Buckley, who added that only two New York City high schools do this.

Other highlights include, the Young Artists String program in association with the Julliard School of Music, a marching band that performs in New York City cultural parades and competitions, orchestra musicians who perform as part of the Lawrence Philharmonic Orchestra — an ensemble of community members and students that perform at civic events — and a trip to perform at Disney World every two years.

“There is no aspects of the arts we don’t have,” said music teacher Rich Buckley, who has spent 27 years of his 33-year teaching career in Lawrence. The performing arts program encompasses dance, acting, band, chorus and orchestra, and sequential classes in several disciplines.

Teachers and students view the program like a family, Buckley said, and he underscored the passion displayed by faculty and performers alike for the arts, with a compassion that pays for as many students as possible to go on the Disney trip that costs $200,000.

For those students who play, sing and dance it is possibly the beginning of a lifelong affinity for the arts and potentially a career path. “I could be singing the rest of my life,” said Miller, who has sung the National Anthem at both Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. “Now I’ll be taking theater in college. If I didn’t start singing, I would be on a different career path.” Miller, who sings in chorus and has performed in high school, is currently auditioning for the programs at Pace, NYU and Julliard.

Jumping from the violin to the clarinet to the alto sax, kept Eras busy and now sane. “My life revolves around music and without it … I would go insane with my other classes.” Eras, who’s brother Jason is also a performer, advises parents that they should let their young children sing and dance freely because you never know where that will lead.

Kohn, who landed the part of Ann in the school’s production of “All My Sons,” admitted to being timid, but thinks performing is bringing her out of that shell. “I feel more connected when I sing and I love doing it,” said the sophomore, who began with the violin and now writes songs.

Like his older peers, Bae started in elementary school, and plays violin in the orchestra and sings in the chorus. “I love music, I couldn’t imagine life without,” he said. “It’s fun.”