Arts & Entertainment
High School Musicians Take the Stage
South Orange and Maplewood students thrilled their audience at the second Annual Musicfest at the Burgdorff Cultural Center.
South Orange and Maplewood high school students took the stage at the Burgdorff Cultural Center this past Saturday, May 29, to perform in the second Annual "Musicfest." The acts encompassed a wide variety of genres, including alternative rock, funk, jazz, Broadway and a cappella singing.
The Musicfest was the brainchild of Tricia Tunstall, a long-time music educator and parent in the district and—until May 1—the director of the Maplewood Cultural Affairs program. According to Tunstall, when she came to the job a couple of years ago, "it was very clear that kids didn't relate to this space [The Burgdorff Center]. I wanted kids to feel this space belonged to them."
Through her connections in the community, Tunstall contacted interested performers and the first Musicfest was held in May 2009.
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Building upon the success of last year, Tunstall reached out to Columbia High School senior Quinn Lashinsky and gave him the responsibility of coordinating and directing the program. Before the show, Lashinsky proclaimed on his Facebook status that Musicfest was "going to be spectacular" and his words proved to be true.
Opening act Scratch n' Sniff kicked off the show with a searing version of "Summertime" and tore through other numbers including "Scratch n'Sniff" and "Babadaba." At times this band evoked memories of the Average White Band, with their horn and percussion-driven funky style. Scratch n' Sniff was comprised of Ethan Lipkind on trombone, James Harvey on keyboard, Sam Godsey on guitar, Ian Kenselaar on bass and James Fried on drums.
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The experimental duo, Royal Family, consisting of Ari Finkel on guitar and keyboards and Wave Langston on drums, took the stage next and provided a high-decibel romp in a 12-plus-minute performance of a number simply titled "Improvisation."
Quinn Lashinsky, who will be entering the Musical Theater program at Temple University this September, lowered the volume but not the passion when he took the stage for two numbers. Lashinsky played keyboard and performed vocals on the popular Indie hit "White Winter Hymnal" by the Fleet Foxes. Lashinsky then switched gears and, accompanied by senior Paul Conrad on piano, performed "Breeze Off The River" from the hit Broadway musical "The Full Monty."
Short Line, featuring juniors Ben Donald and Ari Finkel on guitar and junior Seth Wolin on vocals, made an immediate connection with the audience with their whimsical version of pop star Kesha's hit song "Tik Tok." Shortline is making interpretations of current pop hits a trademark, having performed the Snoop Dog song "Sensual Seduction" at last year's inaugural Musicfest. Shortline also performed "Everything Seems Fine" and "Beauty in the Breakdown."
A cappella group Half-Step Up was next to grace the stage. Members this night included Columbia High School senior and group founder Paul Conrad, who will continue his musical studies this fall at Rutgers University, as well as seniors Cory Dahn, Ellen McGrath, Shari Ann Arena and Abby Powell, juniors Tyler Pease and Seth Wolin, and sophomore Amy French. Half-Step Up harmonized exquisitely through four numbers, including "Only You" with Tyler Pease on lead vocals, and "Change the World" with Seth Wolin on lead.
The penultimate act to grace the Burgdorff stage was the Allison Phillips Band, featuring senior Allison Phillips on trumpet, Ian Kenselaar on bass and Cameron MacIntosh on drums. Phillips, who will continue her musical training this fall at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, showed formidable musicianship and chops on numbers that included "You Stepped Out Of A Dream," "Nardis," and "Four on Six."
Closing act Type D featured seniors James Kelly on guitar and vocals, Matt Fearon on bass and Dylan French on drums. Allison Phillips also joined Type D on a couple of songs. This hard-driving jam band, at times reminiscent of The Grateful Dead, entertained the audience with their performance of "Big Uns Get the Ball Rolling," "Fakey and Flakey" and "Montressor."
After two hours of high-energy performances, the audience, a mixture of teenagers and adults (some people even spotted parents, though I will not verify that fact), filed out of the Burgdorff sincerely impressed and entertained. Tunstall mentioned that she and her successor as Cultural Affairs Director, Marcy Thompson, would like to expand "Musicfest" to a two-evening event, which would include a cabaret concert as well as a band concert.
It's never too early to plan for next year's show.
