viviendo la vida: a new thing

by edrew85

One of those is with the Eastern Conservatory of Music and Arts. The director, Casey Bork, has been a friend for a long time, ever since I was playing trumpet at Whitehouse Church and I joined the Whitehouse Wind Symphony. ECMA is a non-profit music school/program that has great teachers for private students, as well as some really awesome artists coming and giving recitals. It's something that I feel like can play a major role in music education in Central Jersey, it's an awesome organization. For a very long time, definitely early in high school, I've felt a huge need to contribute to music ed in New Jersey. Moving from a large and strong band program in Massachusetts to seeing many smaller, weaker, and overlooked programs in New Jersey when I was in middle school really made an impact on me. There have been tons of times that I felt like something I was supposed to do, or needed to do, or wanted to do (or all of the above) was help promote and advance music studies here in New Jersey- and I think working with ECMA can play a huge part in that. I'll be teaching trumpet there starting the 2nd full week in September. I'm psyched to be able to teach trumpet students there, it's a bunch of great players and musicians. I'm also excited to try and help spread word about ECMA and all the great opportunities it is providing in New Jersey. The caliber of artists, teachers, and performers there is really top notch, I am so lucky to be involved. Percussionist Joe Itkor, currently the front ensemble coordinator for the Bushwackers Drum and Bugle Corps, has performed with and instructed some of the country’s most elite marching units. In addition to directing high school bands for more than a decade, he has performed in brass sections, color guards and percussion ensembles. He is also a music and percussion judge for the National Judges Association and Tournament of Bands. A graduate of West Chester University and a master’s degree from Montclair State, he is...

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