Move over John Mayer, Lady Gaga, Sting, and Sheryl Crow, Harvey’s student musicians have joined the ranks of those big name music performers who have taken the stage at the Cutting Room, the famous music club and lounge in downtown Manhattan.
On Wednesday, Nov. 15, the Harvey band’s director Michelle Davies and her talented musicians, along with the school’s After-School Rock Band directed by Matt Zazzarino, enjoyed an extraordinary and memorable evening at the famous club located on East 32nd Street between Park and Madison Avenues. Performing, with more than 30 family and friends in the audience, were 12 Harvey School Band members covering six songs which included “The Lazy Song” and “When I Was Your Man” by pop singer Bruno Mars, “The Zephyr Song” by the rock group Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Requiem for a Dream” by singer/songwriter Clint Mansell, and “Flight of the Silverbird” by the songwriting duo of T. Bergersen & N. Phoenix.
Also taking the stage for Harvey was the After-School Rock Band who wowed the Cutting Room audience with superb covers of the Clash’s "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" and Radiohead’s "Karma Police."
The Harvey School Band consists of junior Marina Barreto on flute, sophomore Ryan Dey on keyboard, junior Jordan Feigenbaum, drums and vocals, ninth grader Sarah Fisher, drums, junior Lily Hakim, keyboard; ninth grader Lois Houck, on ukulele; senior Samuel Kiamie on baritone saxophone, and bass guitar, sophomore Harry Kreeger, drums, senior Shelby McCaine on drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, and vocals, sophomore Heather Schutzer, harp, ninth grader Zoe Seltzer, violin, and junior Sarah Wolf on alto saxophone.
The After-School Rock Band features junior Connor Harrington on electric guitar and vocals, sophomore Harry Kreeger on drums, and sophomore Fife MacGregor on keyboard. They were joined by bass guitarist Shelby McCaine and vocalist Jordan Feigenbaum.
Band parent Matt Kiamie, who has a connection to the Cutting Room and has performed there himself, helped arrange the invitation to play at the venue. Ms. Davies got a kick out of seeing the reaction of her students when they first arrived. “There were gasps of delight and exclamations of ‘This is so COOL’," Ms. Davies recalled. “They got to work with a professional sound technician, and for the majority of the group it was their first time experiencing the professional sound-check process,” she said. “They were all so excited to be a part of this experience, and both Matt Zazzarino and I saw so much growth in our musicians leading up to this event,” added Ms. Davies.
It was an evening neither the Harvey musicians nor their music directors will ever forget. Ms. Davies (flute and tenor sax) and Mr. Zazzarino (guitar) even got a chance to perform on some numbers. “I feel lucky, and admittedly very cool, to be able to say ‘My group had a gig at the Cutting Room’," Ms. Davies said, adding, “ And to be able to play with the students as well … it's definitely a career highlight for me and I'm hoping we can go back.”
The Harvey School Band runs the full year and accepts experienced instrumentalists. The rock band is one of the after-school options offered for the fall term. Their next gig is a concert on Harvey’s Lasdon Theater stage December 5 starting at 7 p.m.