Scarsdale's Noah Li: The Youngest Conductor at the Harold Rosenbaum Choral Conducting Institute
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Twelve conductors selected for the Harold Rosenbaum Choral Conducting Institute traveled to the State University of New York at Buffalo from August 17th to 22nd in order to broaden their musical knowledge with the guidance of Rosenbaum, the 2014 recipient of the Ditson Conductor's Award. The conductors range from 19-year-old undergraduates to 61-year-old music teachers ... except for Noah Li, a 17-year-old student at Scarsdale High School who composes, sings, plays the piano, and plays the drums for his rock band in addition to conducting.
"The Choral Conducting Institute was awesome," said Li. "The fact that people ranging from 19 to 61 years old are still trying to improve taught me that music-making is about striving for perfection. And seeing the different ways that people interpret a piece of music has shown me how there is a never-ending possibility for fun." Conducting is very rewarding for Li. As he points out, "[Conductors] get to take pride in the sound they hear. With every move they make, they are crafting sound."
Li enjoys "crafting" the sound of the Westchester Chinese Christian Church's youth choir. And in some cases, he has had the added enjoyment of conducting his own compositions, such as an original piece titled Prelude and Amen, an arrangement of a song titled All in All, and an arrangement of Amazing Grace.
Composing music is an emotional and personal process. "When I hear something I have written in the past, it's kind of like I'm looking at an old photo album of myself. But instead of seeing how I looked at the time, I'm getting a little flashback of how I felt," explained Li.
His arrangement of Amazing Grace might be the most powerful piece he has ever conducted. When someone at his church passed away, the choir planned to sing the somewhat drab version of Amazing Grace from the church's hymnal. "I figured that if they were going to sing Amazing Grace, then I should write them a better version of it," he admitted. Thus, Li changed the meter, incorporated a line from a catchy French folk song, and worked in a grand piano line that accompanies the singers in the second half of the piece. "That was a really great performance because we [Li and the choir] were doing it for someone," said Li.
Li not only conducts and composes, but he also sings and plays the piano and drums. Indeed, the Harold Rosenbaum Conducting Institute is not the only organization in which Li is the youngest; he is also the youngest in the Canticum Novum Singers, a chamber choir in NYC which has prepared over 600 singers, (who are normally 25 to 50 years old), for becoming professionals.
Conducting, composing, and singing would be enough for most people, but Li's musical career would simply be incomplete without the existence of an alternative rock band. He founded the band in order to utilize the talent at his church and perform Christian alternative rock songs for his congregation every week. When he realized that none of the numerous musicians at his church could play the drums, he bought himself a set of drums and practiced by playing rock band on Youtube. Other than the unfortunate case when one of his drumsticks flew out of his hand during a performance, (forcing him to retrieve it in the middle of a song), the rock band has been a complete success. "In the old days you would have a piano or an organ and you would play a hymn and people would sing along. Nowadays it's the same thing ... but with a rock band!" said Li.
Whether he is conducting or playing instruments for an audience, Li finds that performing erases the stresses of life. "When I'm in the spotlight I forget I'm there. I have one goal; my mind becomes sharpened into one purpose," said Li. "For that brief few minutes or however long the performance is - whether I'm conducting my choir or playing the piano - I'm able to forget about everything else, and just focus on making music."
Helping Kids Navigate the Playground
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Scarsdale alum Todd Rosenthal has just written The Playground Playbook, a guide to helping kids navigate the social issues that arise in playground play. A 1988 graduate of SHS Rosenthal has worked with kids for twenty years helping them develop sporting ability and social skills. He wrote this guide to help kids with problems stemming from behavioral and social issues occurring in the playground. His goal is to help kids make friends, improve self-esteem, and teach playground culture to help kids avoid unnecessary conflict and bullying.
Book Description: Feeling left out of playground fun hurts! However, getting into groups or "pickup games" (which are games created spontaneously by players who form the teams, make the rules, and referee the action themselves) takes specific skills and know how.
There are common problems that kids experience. To answer the needs of such children I've written The Playground Playbook. In it I've described ways that can be used by kids of various skill levels to overcome many basic game and group related difficulties.
No longer will kids see playing with others as such a mystery. No longer will their questions remain unanswered. I hope that after implementing some of my suggestions a greater confidence will be achieved so your child can succeed and become a valuable member of the playgroup.
Congregation Kol Ami of White Plains Welcomes New Cantor
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Congregation Kol Ami of White Plains is pleased to announce the appointment of Cantor David Rosen as its new Cantor. Cantor Rosen is an outstanding musical and pastoral leader, educator and Jewish scholar. He will be a full partner in the clergy team performing life cycle events and providing pastoral care to congregants as well as developing and implementing the music programs for all aspects of congregational life.
"We are thrilled to welcome Cantor Rosen to our thriving synagogue life." Said Kol Ami President Hank Rouda, "Cantor Rosen is representative of our philosophy of connecting Jewish music, spirituality and the congregation in a warm and inclusive manner."
After graduating from York University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and an Advanced Certificate in Hebrew and Judaic Studies, Cantor Rosen attended the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he received a Masters of Sacred Music and was ordained as a cantor in 2003. Prior to Kol Ami, he served as the Cantor and Director of Youth Education for the Beth Radom Congregation in his hometown of Toronto, Canada. Cantor Rosen recently served as the President of the Toronto Council of Hazzanim and is a member of the Cantor's Assembly as well as an Executive Board member of the American Conference of Cantors where he has served on the Ethics Committee and Cantorial Certification adjudication committee. He has offered lectures and presentations on Jewish music, has been a guest conductor for various synagogue choirs, and has been a liturgical consultant for Jewish Day Schools in Toronto.
In 2008, Cantor Rosen travelled to Germany where he participated as a featured soloist in a series of concerts commemorating the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. As a living Kidney Donor, he has served as a motivational speaker for the Kidney Foundation of Canada and Trillium Gift of Life Foundation. Cantor Rosen is a member of the Toronto Interfaith Clergy Curling Association and through that organization has spearheaded and participated in many interfaith concerts. In 2013, Cantor Rosen co-founded the Toronto Jewish Choral Festival, a concert featuring the voices of 13 choirs and over 250 singers.
"Cantor Rosen has a magnificent voice that will fill our new sanctuary with song and bring a spiritual lift to all who attend our services." said Rabbi Shira Milgrom.
In the last several years, Congregation Kol Ami has focused its efforts on "Relational Judaism", or deepening the connections and relationships to lead to a truer sense of belonging to a connected and caring community. Cantor Rosen will carry on with that philosophy through the music that the congregation hears, learns and sings whether at services, in the choir or at a life cycle event.
"Kol Ami welcomes Cantor Rosen, his wife, Rabbi Illyse Glickman and their son Joel, into the Kol Ami family.", said Rabbi Tom Weiner, "We couldn't be more excited to have him lead us in the joy and beauty of Jewish sacred music."
Congregation Kol Ami is located at 252 Soundview Avenue, White Plains, NY. For more information about Congregation Kol Ami membership or High Holidays, contact Jane Friedberg, Executive Director at 914.949.4717 or jsfkolami@aol.com.
Astorino Takes the Ice Bucket Challenge
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County Executive Rob Astorino has jumped into cold water, taking the ice bucket challenge to raise money for ALS. The stunt involves dumping a bucket of ice on your head while naming others to do the same and recording it on Facebook. Anyone who fails to take the challenge within 24 hours is expected to donate $100 to the ALS Assocation. Astorino challenged Governor Andrew Cuomo, Republican State Senate co-leader Dean Skelos, Democratic State Senate co-leader Jeffrey Klein and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to take the challenge or ante up. Watch him get doused in ice water here:
There's no telling if this will distract voters from other recent news about Astorino who will be deposed for up to seven hours about the Fair and Affordable Housing Settlement in Westchester County. Federal Monitor James Johnson requested the depositions saying that the County Executive and his team "have made statements that have confused the public, misstated the terms of the Settlement and signaled ongoing defiance of its terms." Astornio has repeatedly suggested that HUD would mandate Westchester to build 10,000 units of affordable housing rather than the 750 required in the settlement.
Johnson called for the depositions in his second biennial assessment of the County's compliance on June 26, 2014 and Judge Denise cote ruled in the monitor's favor on July 28th. Other members of Astorino's team will also be deposed; Deputy Commissioner of Planning Norma Drummond, Commissioner of Planning Edward Buroughs and Communications Director Ned McCormack. The lawsuit has already caused Westchester County to lose $12 million in funds that were earmarked for the County by HUD and another $5.2 million could be re-appropriated if the dispute continues.
Astorino is running an active campaign for Governor of NYS, hoping to unseat Andrew Cuomo who is also being investigated by Federal prosecutors for meddling with the Moreland Commission which he set up to investigate public corruption.
To what extent will the investigations chill the candidates' campaigns? It's looking icy for both.
On the Job in Scarsdale: Superintendent Thomas Hagerman
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Scarsdale's newly installed Superintendent Dr. Thomas Hagerman started work three weeks ago and according to Board President Mary Beth Gose, he has not stopped since. He did however take a few minutes out of his day to speak to Scarsdale10583 about his transition to Scarsdale, first impressions, and plans for the upcoming year.
Hagerman, who comes to Scarsdale from Winnetka, Illinois didn't have the easiest time finding a place to live in Westchester. He quickly discovered it was a highly competitive real estate market, and after two failed attempts to buy a home decided to rent instead. He is however discovering some of the County's best features such as the walking trails at the Rockefeller Preserve and good restaurants nearby.
In order to get up to speed on the issues and his constituencies, Hagerman is holding one on one meetings with teachers, administrators, union leaders, past and present board members, leaders of community groups and parents to hear their views and their concerns. Armed with answers to a series of questions he is posing, he will formulate his ideas about what the district needs to do to move forward.
However, he says there are some issues that require immediate attention and rather than wait to address these in a formalized plan, he will "build the plane while flying it at the same time," and take on issues that should be addressed now.
When asked about his overall educational philosophy, Hagerman said that he comes from a "strongly progressive background." Quoting Carlton Washburne a famed educator from Winnetka, he said he believes in educating "the whole child" and in teaching students how to take care of themselves on all levels, emotional, physical and intellectual. Recognizing that Scarsdale can be a very pressured place where good grades triumph over educational passion, Hagerman hinted that work on meeting children's emotional needs would be a part of his plan.
Hagerman was drawn to Scarsdale by the district's focus on 21st century education and innovation. He is excited by plans for the maker's space, design lab and learning commons and looks forward to working with the faculty and technology team on developing the curriculum for these new facilities. He is also impressed with a new course in the high school called City 2.0 in which students undertake "project based learning" and integrate public policy, urban planning and economics to solve a real world problem in New York involving, for example, water or open space. Once the projects are completed, students present their findings to a group of professional experts in the field.
Though he is impressed with innovation in Scarsdale he recognizes that the district's infrastructure needs an upgrade. He said that in comparison to his district in Winnetka, many of our facilities look "rough" and ready for renovation. He said the high school looks like "Hogwarts" and that we need to create an environment where kids can learn. He also cited the need for an upgrade to our technological capabilities to facilitate better communication between schools and parents and to enhance educational opportunities using new technologies. He would like to improve the district's website to include more information about the schools, increase transparency and use it to display all that the district has to offer to outsiders.
He recognized that one of the challenges in Scarsdale is maintaining seven rather small schools and staffing each one with support staff. He understands that Scarsdale values its neighborhood schools and personal relationships between parents, teachers and students but said that a network of small schools is costly in comparison to a middle school of 2,500 students that he headed up in Beaverton, Oregon.
Hagerman arrived in Scarsdale just as a new contract with the teachers was finalized. One of the provisions of the contract was the formation of a joint committee of representatives from the teacher's assocation and the Board of Education to make a recommendation on whether or not to continue to welcome the children of Scarsdale faculty who live outside the district to attend Scarsdale schools. There are estimated to be fewer than 100 out-of-district children of faculty members in attendance and the new contract calls for a study of this practice to determine whether or not this continues to be feasible. This an issue that has apparently caused some rancor among the teachers. The committee has already met two times and will continue discussions in the fall.
Though Hagerman realizes that the endpoint of a Scarsdale education is admission to college, he said "there is a college for every student," and hoped that the focus here could be on igniting a passion for learning rather than admission to a brand name school. His passion and enthusiasm for education was evident – and if he can convey that to the faculty and students, he is sure to make a difference.
