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New Horizons Band members proves talent knows no age
(by Lisa Kintish - April 23, 2008)
“Payback Time,” was the term jokingly used to refer to the recent concert given by The North Jersey New Horizons Band as it were the children and grandchildren who sat in the audience while the musicians, ranging in age from 50 to 89, performed.
Every Thursday morning in a bright, cheerful practice room at The Music Shop in Boonton, the band can be found rehearsing their music under the direction of Damian Cremisio and Jennifer Danziger. The musicians take their cues as they are told “on beat four in measure five go to forte” and “a flat at third and a flat at seventh creates a blues feel.” Remarkably, many in the group have been playing their instrument for only three months.
“Musical experience,” said Danziger, “ranges from very beginners to people who have been playing for many years. Most of our members are brand new to their current instruments. We do our best to accommodate everyone, and to make sure they are working at a level suitable to their abilities.”
It is the first New Jersey-based New Horizons group, of which there are more than 150 in North America. According to Danziger, the shop’s director of educational services, “The very first New Horizons band was formed in 1991 by Eastman School of Music professor, Roy Ernst. Dr. Ernst’s philosophy was that anyone can learn to play music at a level that will bring a sense of accomplishment and the ability to perform in a group.”
Danziger did her graduate school work at the Eastman School of Music and had the opportunity to work with the original band.
“It was such a wonderful experience that it became a dream of mine to someday start a New Horizons program in New Jersey. After graduating, I returned to my home state to teach instrumental music at Briarcliff Middle School in Mountain Lakes. In January of 2007, I got to talking with Nick Marino [The Music Shop’s owner] about his own desire to begin a New Horizons program. Having recently relocated the business to a spacious new facility, Nick wanted to begin offering more community music programs for musicians of all ages. I was granted a year’s leave of absence from my teaching job.”
Word of a band for people past the age of 50 spread as Danziger visited senior groups. The store held an open house to allow perspective band-members the chance to try out the instruments. There were six members at the start, but over the past few months, it has expanded to 22 and continues to grow.
According to the New Horizons Web site: “Active participation in music fills important needs for adults - the need for challenging intellectual activity, the need to be a contributing member of a group, and the need to have exciting events in the future. For many people, music can serve these vital needs better than anything else.”
While all of the above may be true, it is obvious when watching the band that for the members, the benefit is the good time they have together. Ask any of them about their music studies and their faces light up. Saxophone player Stuart Lasser said, “It’s thrilling at this stage of life. There are not too many things you can act on that you dream about.”
Prior to this, Lasser’s music experience was limited to one year of piano lessons as a child. Now, three months into his sax studies, he said as he grinned, “I wouldn’t say I was a musician, but someday.”
Fellow sax player Michele Parkins, of Boonton, called being in the band “the passion of my life now, next to my husband.”
Originally, Parkins thought she would play keyboards, but then it was suggested that she play a horn. “I thought if I was going to do a horn, how about a big horn, how about the sax. Twelve weeks later, I’m playing “God Bless America” to standing ovations.”
The band’s drummer is Denville’s Gene MacDermott. He is involved with several choral groups and before this never had formal music lessons. He taught himself to play piano, which he said he plays by ear and then added that he also does that with the drums.
As for this particular instrument choice, MacDermott explained, “I can’t play instruments because I have arthritis, so drums fit.”
Danziger so loved the idea of the New Horizons Band that she even encouraged her mother to join. Jessie Danziger played piano as a child, but in this band she plays the clarinet. The Rockaway Township resident said, “It’s really fun. I meet a lot of new people and it gets you out two times a week.”
The joy the band members find in the music is contagious. When he first heard that New Horizons would be forming, Cremisio said his feelings were “not unfavorable,” but he thought of it just as a part of the job. Now, he has what he calls “New Horizons fever.”
Formerly a member of Andy Williams’ band, Cremisio spent many years “on the road” until he had had enough of that life. He moved from New York City to Sussex County and took a teaching job at The Music Shop.
“I love doing this,” she said. “I look forward to Thursdays.”
He praised his older students for their motivation and observed that unlike the children he teaches, the New Horizons band members are there by choice and not by order of their parents. “I’ve had experiences all over the world and this is as exciting. It racks up there with performing at Royal Albert Hall in London.”
For more information about the New Horizons band, contact Danziger at Jennifer@musicshop.com or call 973-334-8484, ext. 141.
Photos by David Vnencak
Photo 1: Jennifer Danziger leads the New Horizons 55 Band in their first public performance. Most of the members are beginning musicians who have only been playing since January.
Photo 2: The New Horizons 55 Band, led by Damian Cremisio, performs in their first public performance.
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