Hi everyone!! I had an awesome weekend with the Eastern Jazz Ensemble at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival. We went up to Boston on Friday, and competed on Saturday. There were about 3,000 kids there, from around the country, to compete. I won the Judges Choice Award for piano soloing, along with our guitar player, Victor Switenko. It was an amazing experience, with incredible music, and creative musicians.

Today, I’m just relaxing, getting ready for the next week. Have a great weekend, and please check back soon for more updates!

Hello everyone! I’ve been enjoying my winter break, and getting some much-needed relaxation. I had a fabulous Christmas, and got the new iPhone4S, and a Bose Bluetooth wireless speaker, and lots of other awesome things! On December 26th, we went up to Birdland Jazz Club in NYC to see some good friends of ours, Ruby and Ava Locknar and Victoria Shaw. There was an 11 year old trumpet player there, who was incredible! I did one song by myself, and then me, Ruby, Ava, and Jeff (the trumpet player) did “Just Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Buble together on stage. It was an awesome, fun night!! I’m looking forward to 2012, and am excited for the new year. Happy Holidays everyone, and have a happy and healthy New Year! :D

Hi everyone! I’ve had an exciting week!! On Tuesday and Wednesday, November 22 and 23, I did 2 shows in Ft. Lauderdale Florida, with a good friend of mine, Danielle Lichter. They were both awesome, and all precedes from the show went to The Little Rock Foundation. We raised over $3,000! It was a fabulous 2 nights, and I hope to do more shows with her next year.
For Thanksgiving, we were invited to the Opryland Hotel by some amazing friends of ours in Nashville, Ruby and Ava Locknar„ Bob and Victoria Shaw.  We had a great time, and the hotel is like a city, it’s so huge. I had an unbelievable Thanksgiving week, and I can’t wait for the upcoming holidays. My Jazz Ensemble concert at Eastern High School is on December 13th. Please let me know if you want to come! Have a great week!

Hi everyone! This year is going so fast for me! I can’t believe I’m 15 now; my birthday was awesome! Thank you to everyone who wrote on my wall, wishing me happy birthday! I loved reading the posts! I just went into the recording studio, and I’m starting to create a Duette CD. I recorded a song with a friend of mine, Reed Schmidt, called “Quando Quando Quando.” It was a lot of fun, and I posted a link below for you to listen to it! High school is keeping me extremely busy, with about 4 to 5 hours of homework a night. But otherwise, high school is great!! I’m in the Eastern jazz ensemble, and we’ll have concerts throughout the year. I’ll post the concert dates soon, and if anyone would like to come, that would be awesome!! Please check back soon for more updates! Have a great week.

  http://q-audio.net/download/12JZ

Hi everyone!! I have some interesting things to share. First, I started freshman year of High School, and I love it! It’s a lot of homework, and studying, but the school is unbelievable, and I really enjoy it. I just came back from a one-night gig at Berklee College of Music, in Boston MA, which was so much fun! This weekend, I did two gigs: the first was Saturday, at Parx racing and casino, where I sang “God Bless America” for the PA Derby. Today, I sang the National Anthem at the Four Seasons Parkway Run for Childrens Hospital. Pictures of both are coming! Have a great week, and check back often for updates!

Hello everyone!

Berklee was the most amazing musical experience for me in my life. I don’t even know how to begin to describe how much I’ve learned, and the incredible people I’ve met in the process. Yesterday was unfortunately my last day, and I’m now driving 6 hours back to New Jersey. L I’m so sad to leave, but I know I’ll be participating in the program again! Berklee itself has a really cool, very laid back approach to jazz, and music in general. They were also extremely accommodating to my needs as a blind person. I even had a teacher, in a Piano Comping Lab (where you learn different things about chords to accompany someone) sent me 14 audio files of the music we would be playing in class, so that I could learn them by ear. Everyone there was so nice, and compassionate about music, it just makes me feel so inspired by everything that they do. There is no other program for blind or visually impaired musicians in the country, that offers this much hands-on experience and teaching.

I’ve enjoyed sharing my journey in Boston with everyone, but my summer is far from over. J I’m just going to relax for the next 2 weeks, and then Camp Little Rock starts, the last week in August. Summer is going by too fast! It feels like a day ago when I left Voorhees Middle School, and now I’m going into Eastern High School. It really makes me think how much I’ve changed since 6^th grade to now. Everyone have a great weekend, and enjoy the rest of this fast fading, hot summer!

Hello Everyone!

I’m having a wonderful time at Berklee! There is literally music everywhere you go, whether it’s in the elevator, in ensemble rehearsal rooms, or 4-part harmony in the hallways. I’ve never seen anything cooler in my life. It’s just awesome to me that everyone shares the same love for music as I do. I’m busy from about 9 in the morning until 8 at night, and all day, I’m doing music. Every one of my classes focuses on a different aspect of piano, and chord structure, as well as writing and reading music, and music technology courses. We’ve also had some really cool clinics, some by Berklee staff, and some by other professionals. Everyone is really, really good at what they do, staff and students included. Actually, this past weekend, I received an e-mail from a girl who goes to Berklee in the 5 week program with me, who needed a piano player and a drummer to record an original song of hers, called, “At The Same Time.” So, when I said yes, we rehearsed twice, and me, her, and a bass player just finished recording it in one of Berklee’s professional recording studios today. I love the song, and it has an awesome groove and lyric to it. I’m having a fabulous time here, and it is absolutely a once-in-a-lifetime experience! I’ll keep everyone posted on what’s happening!

Rocco

Hello everyone! The past few weeks, I’ve just been relaxing, enjoying the life of summer. On Friday, July 8, I am leaving for Berkeley College of music in Boston. I’m going there for one month program, that offers many selections and varieties of music choices. It will allow me to learn some valuable knowledge from the experts there, and meet some incredible people at the same time. I’m very excited to attend! :-) I will keep everyone posted on what happens there, so please have a happy fourth, and enjoy the summer vacation.

Hello everyone! I have some updates. On Monday, June 13, the Little Rock Foundation held it’s eleventh annual Golf Outing, at the Scotland Run Country Club. We had a great turnout, and everyone had a blast. It was a wonderful day and evening.

A couple months ago, I received some letters from local fourth graders, who were intereted in meeting me. I had no idea who they were, or how they found out about me. On Thursday, we’re doing a presentation to the entire fourth grade. Harry Epstien, who is also blind, will be bringing his guide dog, named Georganne.  The kids love her and Harry explains the importance of having a guide dog, and what Georganne does for him everyday.

On Friday, June 17, I’m flying out to Nashville TN, to see a good friend of mine, Ruby, and her family. I met them three years ago at the Birdland Jazz Club in New York City, and we’ve become great friends. Ruby’s mom, Victoria, is performing at the Grand Old Opry on Saturday night, and has invited us to see her performance. It is also Ruby’s birthday weekend, so I’m excited to celebrate with her. I know I’ll have a fabulous, relaxing time!

For my graduation present, I received an iPhone! I absolutely love it! Knowing that I’m blind, I would have never, ever thought that I could efficiently, effectively use a touch screen, but with Apple’s provisions for accessibility, it is easily possible.

I will keep everyone posted on what’s going on. Have a wonderful rest of your week and weekend. :)