FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com february 11, 2016 • BUZZ • The Queens Courier 57 ST. FRANCIS PREP’S MUSIC DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS ELITE GROUPS On Friday, March 18th, St. Francis Prep’s Music Department will present its annual Jazz/Pop concert. Originally a vehicle to highlight the school’s powerhouse Jazz Band, the concert has grown to also include Prep’s top tier groups; their Honors Percussion Ensemble, Chamber Choir, and Chamber Orchestra. Prep’s Music Department is a benchmark for arts education, as they were the fi rst department ever to be recognized by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools by earning their Music Credential, which is, “aimed at recognizing only those schools with the most sophisticated programs and the highest goals in music education.” Additionally, many of the students featured on the March 18th performance will be touring Rome and Assisi this summer. It will be the school’s 5th international tour, the most recent being to London in 2014. The evening will feature a wide range of popular Music, including Chamber Choir’s renditions of Bob Marley’s One Love, and Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind. Our Honors Percussion Ensemble will be playing Toto’s Africa, arranged by Prep junior Benjamin Santos, as well as a medley from Disney’s Frozen. Our Chamber Orchestra will be performing Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody with special faculty guests. Finally, our Jazz Band will be presenting Maynard Ferguson’s Admiral’s Horn, and the Duke Ellington standard, Things Ain’t What They Used To Be. Prep senior Nicholas Lupoli has been a violinist in Prep’s Chamber Orchestra for three years. He has had the opportunity to tour London, and will this summer hit the road with the orchestra to visit Italy. He is looking forward to this performance as it gives the orchestra the chance to play different genres and broaden their abilities. He’s particularly eager to perform Bohemian Rhapsody since it’s a classic rock song. He is of course, sad that this will be his fi nal Jazz/Pop concert. Prep junior, Benjamin Santos, whose percussion ensemble arrangement of Africa will be performed, is defi nitely excited about hearing his work, as it is his fi rst major arrangement. Rehearsals have been going well, and Benjamin says his work is clicking for the ensemble members. Everyone knows their parts, and they are excited. For Benjamin, it is especially exciting, given he didn’t learn mallet instruments (i.e. – xylophone) until he came to Prep, and these are the instruments featured in his work. St. Francis Prep’s Jazz/Pop Concert is Friday, March 18th at 7:45PM in the school’s Brother Ralph Clifford Memorial Auditorium, 6100 Francis Lewis Boulevard in Fresh Meadows. The trumpet section of Prep’s Jazz Ensemble Tickets will only be sold at the door, and are just $5 for general admission seating. Doors open at 7:15PM. For more information, please contact Prep’s Chairperson of Music: Dr. Robert Corbino (718) 423-8810, x255 [email protected] Prep’s Chamber Orchestra ST. FRANCIS PREP STUDENTS TRAVEL TO MISSOURI TO HELP THOSE IN NEED On Sunday, February 14th, 10 St. Francis Prep students and their chaperones will board a plane to travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, the home of Notre Dame Regional High School. Brother David Migliorino, O.S.F., Notre Dame’s principal, is a member of the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, the religious order that founded and still operates St. Francis Prep. And it is the “Brothers,” as they are colloquially known, who have put their stamp on this trip. Joining the contingent from Prep will be 10 students from St. Anthony’s High School in Huntington, also a Franciscan Brothers school. The trip, which will bring together 30 young men and women in all - over their mid-winter recess no less - will provide the opportunity to volunteer and offer service to a variety of organizations, including a wildlife preserve, a food pantry, and a homeless day shelter. This idea of helping those in need, or organizations that strive to maintain our environment, are rooted in the efforts and life legacy of Francis of Assisi, a 13th century Italian saint who gave away wild riches and privilege to minister to lepers and animals alike. For some of our Prep students, this trip is just one of many valuable life experiences. Prep senior Jeanpierre Tenesaca has made service trips to Peru and Camden, New Jersey. In Peru, he was able to comfort disabled and hospitalized children. Two experiences that especially impacted him were working with a child with Leukemia and a boy with only one leg. In Camden, one of the poorest cities in America, he had a variety of opportunities, including working with both kindergarteners and the elderly. One boy in particular moved Jeanpierre, given he ate as much as possible through his school’s free food program because he was not able to eat at home. For Jeanpierre, he’s learned that a little help can make people very happy. He’s looking forward to the trip and reconnecting with a sense of helping people. Prep senior, Lauren DiGregorio is looking forward to meeting students from other schools. She also went on the Peru trip, and called it, “amazing,” and hopes she can go back. She is also looking forward to meeting new people, and positively impacting and helping children. Veteran Prep faculty member, Robert Johnston will be going as a chaperone. As a former Assisi pilgrim, and walking in the footseps of Brother Joseph Bach, O.S.F., who Francis, he hopes will be leading Prep’s continget to Missouri to not only lend his own hand, but model Franciscan values for his students, and see them in turn grow into the stewards of their society. For Johnston, Prep is not only a rigorous academic institution, but one that teaches students the value of community and service, day in, and day out. The Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn have recently launched a new website, and highlights of last year’s trip can be foud at: http://www.franciscanbrothers.org/photo-gallery/ franciscan-volunteer-program-2015/ For more information, please contact: Shawn Sempowich, Campus Minister for Service Learning (718) 423-8810, x255 [email protected] Brother Joseph Bach, O.S.F., Lead chaperone [email protected] Students from St. Francis Prep, St. Anthony’s and Notre Dame Regional High School show solidarity by wearing Fanciscan Brothers of Brooklyn bracelets
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