BY BRIANNA SKELTON
ISSUE NO. 39 | MAY 2022
Every year, the New York State Music Association comes together to advance the music education across the state for students in different school programs. They commit themselves to not only the profession, but to the excellence in music education and to each students' own professional growth.
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF MODERN DAY MUSIC SCHOOL
Each spring, 100,000 students participate annually in the festivals held all around New York State. NYSSMA is best known for sponsoring festivals where students have the opportunity to perform solos or in small ensembles for an impartial adjudication. Participation in NYSSMA is voluntary and provides students with the chance to evaluate their own level of talent and to set goals for their progress and growth. Instruments evaluated include everything from piano, strings, and woodwinds, to voice and percussion-based instruments! As each student takes on the challenge through the multiple different levels, participants prepare and perform a solo selected from the NYSSMA manual where they will
NYSSMA SHINING SCHOLARS
be judged on seven different categories: tone, intonation, technique, accuracy, interpretation, scales, and sight-reading. We love that we have students right here at Modern Day Music who are dedicated to growing their musical excellence! How do the coaches at MDM help students prepare for NYSSMA? The first thing is, starting to practice early and having the time to prepare accordingly. Having the ability to break down each step along the way with a MDM coach is invaluable to many of our students! By being able to start early, it gives not only the student time to prep, but also gives the coaches the ability to diligently check every aspect that will be graded and go through the NYSSMA categories step-by-step. For NYSSMA in vocals, our coaches will encourage students to practice in front of a mirror, giving the participant time to check their posture, facial expressions during different points of the piece, as well as seeing what their body language might look like. These extra factors are also an important part when working on NYSSMA pieces and setting yourself apart from the crowd. Our piano coach, Deb, had two students compete in NYSSMA this year while our voice coach, Nicole M., has several competing next month as well. Nicole said there are many benefits to competing, "NYSSMA is a great opportunity for students to work towards a
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graded performance," she said. "The students receive valuable feedback from adjudicators on their performance and theory skills which help them discern which techniques to focus on in their studies." Another important tip our coaches share is for the NYSSMA Performance Day. They all agree that it is important to ARRIVE EARLY! Once arriving, every moment to prepare before-hand is crucial to the the experience. Along with this, the unanimous tip amongst coaches was to have fun! While students will take months preparing for their performances, NYSSMA is meant to be a fun, exciting, and happy experience for all students. While many might put pressure on themselves to be perfect and get the best score, it's important to remember that nothing bad will come if you happen to not perform at your best. We are proud of all of our students who have already taken part this year or are yet to perform this spring! Over the course of the last few months we’ve seen MDM students tackling their performances, scoring top scores, and being grateful for the help of our knowledgeable coaches and a lot of hard work and determination on their part. We can't wait to hear about each student's NYSSMA experience!
We’re getting to know another Modern Day Music coach this month. This time, piano and vocal coach, Braden Jarosz! Growing up in Schaghitcoke, New York, Braden is the fourth child in a family of five kids! “Being part of a large family defined my view of life," he said. "Sharing, and playing with four siblings made childhood an adventure.” From there, he graduated from Hoosic Valley High School and then went on to study music at The Crane School of Music. For Braden, much of his musical exploration began in church. Even before he started school, he fell in love with singing during worship services. From a young age Braden participated in multiple services before joining the musical at his church, and his love for music was solidifed— he never looked back and has been performing ever since. It wasn’t until more recently did he discover that his passion doesn’t lay just in performance, but that it in fact, “surpasses performance and points towards teaching.” His voice teacher, Dr. Lonel Woods, would go on to inspire Braden in countless numbers of ways during their lessons. For him, “ He shaped me into the person I am today. So many of his teaching philosophies have trickled down into my own methods, and I am thankful to share his legacy.” Braden looks forward to getting to share what he has learned from the late Dr. Woods who passed in May of 2021 -- losing his biggest mentor was a shock to the core. He had to learn to re-evaluate and continue on, while still following through on the greatest things that he had been taught from someone so influential to him.
An important moment came out of the dim of losing someone, the realization of the importance of having a good teacher. “Though he left his students behind, the questions he helped me formulate have continued to foster growth not merely vocally, but emotionally and spiritually,” Braden said. He learned from Dr. Woods that teaching isn’t just the ability to instruct a student on how something is done, and done correctly, but it also shares the proper avenues to help them uncover their own passions in their musical growth. Something that we’ve seen time and time again with Braden, is the amount of work he puts into uncovering student's passions for both piano and singing. When asked what his future looks like , he was quick, “I plan to perform and teach for my entire life. Nothing fills me with greater joy than watching my students prosper.” Teaching has become a passion for him in so many ways, that he looks forward to every day that he gets to come to Modern Day Music and work with his students. For him, he’s always looking to find new ways to reach people with the ‘joy of music’. We always like to ask our coaches for one important tip or lesson for the students of Modern Day Music and Braden knew just what his answer would be. “Don’t stop asking questions, and wait expectantly for your artistic spirit to grow! Everything around you shapes who you are yesterday, today, and tomorrow." We look forward to all the things that Braden has in store for us in these upcoming months and know that he is another special addition to an already impressively talented team of coaches we have here!
Michaela's Corner
MAY CALENDAR
2 - National Play Your Ukulele Day 2 - Open Mic Night, Caffe Lena, 7-10pm 5 - Cinco de Mayo 6 - Vagabond (Tony), Twisted Vine - Delmar, 6-9pm 6 - Under the Den (Ben), The Laundromat - Albany, 8pm 8 - Mother’s Day 8- The Senior Playback of Maria Carvajal at Studio A in Hearst CCIM, 5pm 8 - Ben Zoleski Solo, Bound by Fate Brewing - Schuylerville 3-6 pm 9- Open Mic Night, Caffe Lena, 7-10pm 13 - Under the Den (Ben), Jay St. Pub, 10pm-1am 16 - Open Mic Night, Caffe Lena, 7-10pm 21 - Ben Zoleski Solo, Spa City Tap and Barrel, 6:30-9:30pm 22 - National Buy a Musical Instrument Day 23 - Open Mic Night, Caffe Lena, 7-10pm 27 - Vagabond (Tony), Martel's - Colonie, 6-9pm 27 - Ben Zoleski Solo, Katie O' Byrnes - Schenectady 7-10pm 28 - International Jazz Day 30 - Memorial Day - MDM CLOSED 5/28-5/30
Our next Songwriting Workshop will be starting in early May! Reach out to the office to sign up for either Level 1 or Level 2. We can't wait to hear everyone's originals!
A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR NEW STUDENTS in APRIL!
Anjali R Sai Viswa R Eleni S Soren L Riley D Ashira G Skylah S Arabelle M Peter L Vika (Victoria) S Catherine G Tristan L Evania P Lucas H Maura L Madison M Elliott K Maeve N Renee K Amelia M Brittni F Lily P Jacob G Ethan S Scott S
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