Talented Port Kids Rock 89 North!

Talented Port Kids Rock the 2022 Battle of the Bands at 89 North!

In a fierce competition at the 2022 Bach To Rock Battle of the Bands, 20 bands went head-to-head at 89 North Music Venue in Patchogue, NY on Sunday, June 12th. Hundreds of proud parents, family members and fans came to support and cheer on students from B2R Port Washington. The groups competed at the iconic Long Island venue and rocked the spectacular hotspot.

"The students, who range in age from 8 to 18, and their band coaches worked tirelessly to prepare for this epic, annual event and I’m beyond proud of all the performers," said B2R Port Washington Director, Elana Hayden. “After the past two years with virtually no live performances, we were excited and beyond grateful for the opportunity to perform for a live audience at the fabulous 89 North."

Three seasoned music industry professionals, Wayne Schuster (Blood, Sweat and Tears, Phoebe Snow), Amber Ferrari (Paula Cole, Taylor Dayne), and Carl Pfanstiehl (original B2R Director of Operations) judged the performances. Close to 100 students performed in three divisions - Elementary, Middle, and High School – all rocking 89 North. "While this is a competition, the main point is for the kids to have a great experience, get to perform live - and to have fun and feel like a rock star!” said Elana.

The bands were scored on several criteria including musical ability, technical ability, stage presence, material, creativity, and professionalism. All the competitors study a variety of musical disciplines at Bach to Rock music school on Port Washington Blvd, including music theory, instrument instruction, recording arts, performance arts, voice lessons and band coaching.

The winners included:

Elementary School Division

1st Place Winner: NO SLAC – Brady Lefton, Ryann Cooper, Zander Stern, Connor Long

Runner Up: BLUE… ISH BLACK – Divya Ramphul, Julia O’Flanagan, Tara Rajan, Charlotte Tyler, Afnaan Mirza

Runner Up: ROCK CANDY – Nyla Bailey, Gaby Leder, Nicholas Picciuto, Riley Sawyer, Ronan Pusey, James Turnbull

Middle School Division

1st Place Winner: 5 JORDANS – Willow Grosskopf, Tara Rajan, Zach Silverman, Julien Shafran

Runner Up: VIBE – Aneesha Mirza, Aaron Gilbert, Evan Kim, Jacob Ferraro

Runner Up: OBLIVIAN – Ethan Gilbert, Ryan Messenger, Lucas Victoria, Sami Sanghrajka

High School Division

1st Place Winner: KONKUSSION – Ella Pourmoradi, Noa Pourmoradi, Ava Petersen, Wes Petersen

Runner Up: CHEMICAL REACTION – Adam Deleeuw, Chase Lewin, Dylan Thomas, Kian Marcus, Maximo Lopez, Oliver Goldman

Runner Up: ODD BEANS – Grace Miller, Chloe Pusey, Emelie Nguyen, Megan Byrne, Sam Petras, Michael Mercedes

(Photos courtesy of Rich Balter)

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