MEMS audiences enjoy rhythm of the islands
Select student bands, including pan band, stage special concerts
BY AMY ROSEN
Staff Writer

ERIC SUCAR staff Seventh-grader Joe Maffia and the rest of the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District steel drum band members perform in concert at the Manalapan Englishtown Middle School. Select bands and choruses from the school district were in concert at the event.

It may have looked like they were at the Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School (MEMS) on Millhurst Road, Manalapan, but during the day on June 7 the school's students were transported to an island in the Caribbean for a little while.

The only thing missing were the piña coladas and palm trees as six fifth- through eighth-grade pupils from the Lafayette Mills and Wemrock Brook schools and MEMS, dressed in colorful Hawaiian shirts, performed in the Steel Pan Ensemble conducted by Dave Geltch, a music teacher and band director at Lafayette Mills School. The band was one of four that performed in the 2007 Select Ensemble Concert presented by the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District that night.

Geltch has also conducted the Select Percussion Ensemble since its approval as an extracurricular program by the Board of Education six years ago.

"Music back then was pieces I composed specifically for the group," Geltch explained. "Today we play those pieces as well as others that are of other cultures. I call it 'Invention,' and with the recent popularity of the 'Blue Man Group' and 'Stomp' shows on Broadway, we pay tribute to them."

Much like those shows, the students use common items such as brooms, pipes, garbage cans and furniture, among other things, to create unique music.

The Select Percussion Ensemble members are Anthony Cardinale, Scott Figueroa, Chase Gross, Justin Landis, D.J. Orlando, Shannon Sabino, Andrew Schott and Dylan Zangakis, who all attend MEMS; Robert Mineroff, a student at Lafayette Mills; and Michael Rosen, who attends Wemrock Brook.

Geltch explained that the percussion ensemble is really about a multicultural experience and said he tries to do very different things that are not typically done in a school setting. Last year the Select Percussion Ensemble students used drums the Lafayette Mills School had to simulate taiko drumming, a theatrical form of drumming that uses big arm movements and strong drum sounds. Geltch said he hopes to have the actual kinds of drums used in that art form one day. This year's theme is Latin music.

"Part of the fun is making the instruments and the music ourselves and learning about the music of different cultures," Geltch said, adding that he welcomes input from any member of the community who is fluent in a particular style of drumming and wants to impart that study on students.

"Whether it's Latin, pan, African drumming with logs, or anything else, we would love to learn about it," he explained enthusiastically. "That's how it happened with the pan (also referred to as a steel drum) group."

He said the pan group started three years ago through a generous loan of the drums by Andrea and Owen McPherson when their oldest son, Jonathan, was a student at Lafayette Mills. Now the McPhersons' son, Alex, who attends MEMS, is carrying on the tradition.

Other students who perform in the Steel Pan Group with Alex McPherson are Adam Friedman, Jared Goldstein and Michael Rosen, who attend Wemrock Brook; and Joseph Maffia and Daniel Pizzimenti, who attend MEMS.

Geltch went on to say, "If it weren't for the McPhersons' generous donation it couldn't have happened. They believe in instruments and that style of music and because of that the kids now know about it. I just amplified that love by being in the school and passing it on to the kids."

"I was more than willing to donate the drums once I realized that they would be used. Mr. Geltch is fabulous," said Andrea McPherson. "His love for music is infectious. He makes the kids want to practice. The progress the pan band has made and the interest that it generates among the kids is worth it. Besides, each year they get better."

McPherson, who was recently appointed to the Manalapan Arts Council, went on to explain, "Everyone likes to think of their town and school as culturally diverse and culturally aware. The steel drums allow my Caribbean roots to be part of the ever-growing diverse culture of Manalapan. It will no longer be that 'thing' or drum you hear when you visit the Caribbean. It is an instrument like all others but like no other. It has a unique history and origin and was one of the last instruments invented. How many schools and towns in New Jersey can say, 'we have a pan band?' " Manalapan is fast becoming a place known for arts and culture. This is just the beginning."

The school district eventually purchased the drums from the family two years ago when Gregory Duffy was the music supervisor. Duffy is presently the principal of Lafayette Mills, one of the district's three fourth- through sixth-grade schools. Jay Klausner is currently the district's music supervisor.

"The district's support of the music programs has been invaluable," Geltch commented, "and it's been great working with Mr. Duffy as a principal as well."

According to Geltch, anyone who can play an instrument can learn to play a pan, and all students who are interested are welcome to audition for the pan band. All the fundamentals of music and rules of note reading and scales carry over to learning how to play a pan instrument since it is a legitimate chromatic instrument (meaning that the notes of the scale, including sharps and flats, can be reproduced on various steel drums).

He explained that the steel drums are made from 55-gallon oil drums. The modern pan was invented in 1940, which is recent compared to other instruments.

Geltch has been a music teacher at Lafayette Mills for 15 years. He has a degree in music education from Temple University, Philadelphia, with a specialty in percussion. He was a member of the Cadets of Bergen County, a drum corps, for three years, during which time they won the drum corps world championship. He has taught more than a dozen high school drum lines, including Manalapan High School, and is currently working with the Allentown High School marching band. He also taught the Rutgers University drum line for three years.

Audience members were also treated to performances by the Select Orchestra directed by Tara Blick, the string instrument teacher at the Lafayette Mills and Pine Brook schools, and the Select Jazz Band directed by Jennifer Silipino, who teaches music at MEMS.

Those bands may have had traditional instruments, but they still impressed the audience with their professional sounding and unique performances as well. In addition, the audience was charmed and impressed when Ellen Plattman (violin), Caroline Smith (viola) and Emmeline Karl (cello), accompanied by the entire Select String Orchestra performed the "One-Bow Concerto" while passing a bow around in a circle from one person to another, while each played their part, never missing a note.

Other Select String Ensemble members were Lillian Wang, Natalie Caravaglio, Amanda See, Alexandra Morris, Melissa Picirrillo, Nicole Florio, Brianna Messina, Caitlyn Lee, Philip Swaney, Julianna Spiezia, Allison Keefner, Richard Pinnola, Kyle McBride and Melissa Greene.

The Select Jazz Band had the audience cheering with strong renditions of songs like "My Girl," "Accidentally in Love," "Gimme Some Lovin' " and others.

The members of the Select Jazz Band are Peter Coutros, Dom DeLorenzo, Jeremy Eisner, Frankie Saverino, Krystyn Suppa, Vinny Chakradhar, Alexander Krall, Christopher Montesano, James Cipriano, James Le Compte, Frank Mauro, Ian Weiss, Justin Landis, D.J. Orlando, Christopher Chong, Ben Sciortino, Connor Wilson, Michael Misischia, Edward Fox and Andrew Saul.

MEMS Principal Robert Williams said he was impressed with the show.

"It was a really nice concert and a wonderful group of kids," Williams said. "The audience was very receptive because of the caliber of the competency and the level of music they play."

Parents and family members were able to enjoy all four bands in concert on the evening of June 7.