Despite Pandemic, LI Grammy Winner Helps Kids Pursue Music Dreams

MATTITUCK, NY — During a time when North Fork youth have seen their lives turned upside down, having to embrace distance learning and seeing their dreams for proms, graduations and other touchstone moments in their educational careers derailed due to the coronavirus pandemic, one local Grammy winner is working hard to help kids realize their artistic dreams.

Just as the coronavirus crisis slammed Long Island and New York , Chris DiGirolamo, who lives in Mattituck and owns the publicity firm Two for the Show Media, had plans to implement a fundraising project for local students: As of March 1, 2020, every musical artist booked through his office will donate a portion of each signed campaign to the fine arts programs at the Mattituck-Cutchogue Union Free School District.

When asked why he decided to embark on his life-changing mission for young people, DiGirolamo, who has two young daughters, said it was an idea he'd had for some time.

"It went into motion when I recently complimented a parent regarding her child’s lead performance in this year’s winter play," he said last winter. "She expressed that her daughter’s courage and performance ability surprised even her. To think that her child could take on an entire auditorium of over 200 people and knock 'em dead. That is amazing. That is what it is all about. Right there, it hit me. I thought, 'How many of these young people have this urge to perform that we are unaware of?'”

And DiGirolamo, who moved his publicity firm from Westchester to Mattituck in 2012, never wavered in his mission even during the pandemic, when COVID-19 shuttered schools and turned the focus to at-home learning.

Even when he and so many others were navigating new waters in their businesses due to thecoronavirus, DiGirolamo stayed the course. "Honestly, when the pandemic hit I had to reevaluate whether we could continue until September, just in part due to slower business, but I must tell you, we are busier than ever," he said.

Kids need the financial boost now more than ever, he said. "I can pretty much be certain that the schools will need more. Computers for distance learning. There are so many positives that this can be used for," he said.

The pandemic has spotlighted clearly why there is an urgent need to shine a focus on the needs of local students, DiGirolamo said. "They are in the 'on deck' circle for our existence. Let us do our best to make them the finest they can be. Always," he said.

DiGirolamo decided to donate funds to the Mattituck-Cutchogue Union Free School District, he said, was because he was impressed by the "incredible efforts that the district does make to support the arts in the schools. The musicals are always fantastic. The teachers are all heart and soul. Yes, many of the classes might be at 8 a.m., but they offer the locals kids a chance to change their lives through the arts."

And he wants to impart the same love for music and the arts that literally shaped his life, DiGirolamo said.

"A relative bought me a snare drum when I was six. That changed my entire life for the positive. I still have that snare drum on my kit today. Music is my living and gives me joy every day in some shape or form. Why would we not want to share this in a community this size with potential young musicians, where we can make a change?" he said.

DiGirolamo said the decision about what to do with the funds raised will be the "school's call. Both departments in the elementary school and the high school have a wonderful faculty who look at the resources and make those decisions. Clearly with this new COVID environment, more might be needed. Let's get the music students laptops where they can have their own recording studios, learn editing and video. There is so much we can do."

DiGirolamo might kick start a program where instruments are donated to the schools from locals. In fact, one resident in the Hamptons contacted DiGirolamo last week about an instrument donation.

DiGirolamo, who has rubbed elbows with the brightest and most glamorous in the music business at the Grammy awards for years, said he has seen successful careers born when young talent is nurtured during the earliest days.

"There are so many programs that encourage the arts," DiGirolamo said. "I have worked with several big-name artists who do what they do in the arts because the educational system where they are from, went the extra yard for the fine arts."

DiGirolamo was thrilled when his client, Cuban drummer/composer Dafnis Prieto, won a Grammy in 2019 for "Best Latin Jazz Recording." Working as a publicist for Prieto for more than 10 years, DiGirolamo said, "This was special."

The win was the second for one of DiGirolamo's clients; he had another in 2008, with a total of 25 previous nominations.

And that's why he's dedicated to fostering school arts programs, so students are equipped with the tools to achieve their own dreams.

The program is designed to give young people the wings to soar, he said. "If a student wants to learn, they will learn. It is how we offer it to them," he said. "Every student, no matter what age, has a positive connection to music and the arts. Every one of them. There is always a way to bring in music and art into young lives through teaching methods and further education."

Helping to foster fine arts programs in schools also helps to bolster the community as a whole and invigorates the local arts canvas, DiGirolamo said.

"Any support you provide is important if you are helping someone or something," he said. "I have always looked at that as a privilege. It is a pretty basic fact across our country. No matter what, when the budget cuts come, it is usually the fine arts and those teachers that are cut. This area has a pulse on the fine arts unlike many."

Between the North Fork Community Theatre, which offers performance opportunities for teens with their yearly Youth on Stage summer program, to the music programs in the schools, DiGirolamo said the North Fork is brimming with great opportunities for young people to hone their talents.

Helping to fund programs in the schools can only help to broaden opportunities for all, he said.

"That is all you can ask for. As a business owner, this is just a personal decision. I love where I live. The people, the community, all of it," he said. "So why wouldn’t I want to make it even better?"

For other young artists who may be just starting out, DiGirolamo has words of wisdom: "Work hard, stay to your word, do what you say you are going to do and many great things will come to pass," he said.