Cecilian Music Club Presents 20th Annual Monster Concert

Twenty years ago, Ms. Beth
S. Chen asked the Cecilian Music Club if we wanted to perform a
Monster Concert. “What,” we asked, “is a Monster Concert?”
It turns out a Monster Concert is an ensemble of baby grand pianos,
playing all together, under the baton of a conductor. It's a unique
experience for piano students to play with other performers and
follow a conductor, something band students do all the time but piano
students don't get to experience. So we decided to give it a try, and
Ms. Chen organized the concert, was Chairwoman of the event, and
conducted for the first seventeen years of performances.

On January 15th,
2018, the Cecilian Music Club was proud to present our Twentieth
Annual Monster Concert, with Therese Whelan conducting. Repertoire
ranged from “Stars and Stripes Forever” and “A Chinese
Lullaby,” to a Slavonic Dance by Dvorak, and Beethoven's 5th
transcribed for piano duet. To recognize our special anniversary, Ms.
Chen consented to conduct the final piece in the concert, Beethoven's
5th.

The students who
performed in this concert are: Christian Amyx, Mackenzie Amyx, Davit
Avetisyan, Gabriele Balkius, Gray Barnum, Louisa Barnum, Saumya
Bhandarkar, Max Brodsky, William Casey, Mahika Calyanakoti, Ritika
Calyanakoti, Cassandra Cavanagh, Dana Chan, Jacob Chan, Vivien Cheng,
Sophia Cheung, Alyson Chiang, Valerie Choong, Wesley Choong,
Jacquelyn Conforti, Liz Columbo, Tori Cundy, Sandra Cusack, Dassi
Dachs, Sara Dachs, Jacqueline Day, Sarah Decelie, Maggie Earhart,
Lisa English, Quinn English, Isabella Fedele, Maria Fedele, Dylan
Fitzgerald, Mia Fitzgerald, Alyanna Fria, Allen Fu, Amanda Gallaro,
Emily Gangi, Adelyn Garcia, Abbie Gresek, Emily Guo, Laurina Guo,
Justin Ham, Andrew Herh, Mark Hines, William Hines, Maegan
Hontanosas, Raeann Hontanosas, Malin Horchier, Maylin Horchter,
Sophia Hu, Paul Jensen, Thomas Jensen, Josh Joji, Cynthia Kalaivan,
Shawn Karaty, Athena Komitas, Steven Kapp, Mary Klein, Howard Lai,
Chamber Lam, Ellie Lam, Lukas Latvys, Aiden Lawlor, John Lebitsch,
Rebecca Lehner, Kayla Leung, Benjamin Lin, Daniel Lin, Jenna Lin,
Kayleigh Lin, Emily Liu, Cayla Lloyd, Miranda Lynch, Moira Malhotra,
Hayden Marciszewski, Sabrina Marciszewski, Ani Mouradian, Keshav
Nair, Andrew Newell, Cecilia Newman, Matthew Newman, Chloe Orsag,
Nathaniel Orsag, Phoebe Orsag, Robert Paglia III, Tifanni Paglia,
Julia Papasso, Leo Passalaqua, Philip Passalaqua, William Perry,
Abishek Prakash, Anirudh Prakash, Isabella Pruscino, Caitlyn Respass,
Jonah Richman, Michele Rizzuto,Anant Sabata, Lauren Sabella, Anthony
Scalera, Giovanni Scaranni, Lorenzo Scaranni, Emily Scarpa, Elizabeth
Scarpa, Joe Scott, Matthew Shen, Erick Shi, Kevin Shi, Sam
Silvestro, Aarya Sood, Bethany Suliguin, Brianna Suliguin, Cate
Swansson, Clare Swansson, Annika Szakowski, John Szumowski, Samuel
Thomas, Sophia Thomas, Nicole Tonny, Arielle Toutou, Salvatore
Valente, Lucia Vasilakopoulos, Allison Wang, Claire Wang, Natalie Wu,
Rachel Yan, Benjamin Yao, Julia Yi, Alice Ying, Olivia Ying, Eva
Yong, Kayla Yong, Brian Young, Karen Young, Delin Zhang, Ryan Zhao,
Alina Zhu, and Lillian Zhou.

Teachers who prepared
students for this concert and/or performed were: Colette Adams,
George Borisov, Jennifer Brush, Helen Bungert, Beth S. Chen, Sarah
Chen, Yu Lien Chen, Phemie Y. Chien, Bernice Cooperman, Margaret S.
Coston, Lisa Frost-Goodall, Richard Hendrickson, Irene Kapp, Violeta
Kundrotiene, Barbara Lerro, Elena Lin, Lillian Livingston, Judith
Meisels, Karen Mulhall, Marina Strakovsky, Camille E. Thompson, Heidi
Valvano, Alan Wasserman, Therese Whelan, and An-li Young.

The Cecilian Music Club
was founded in 1883, by six women who pledged to practice an hour a
day or be fined 10 cents! It is composed of performers, teachers, and
music lovers dedicated to the study and performance of music. For
more information, or to be become a member, visit our website at
www.cecilianclub.org.