School of Rock Easton adds new programs and studio you need to see to believe

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

The School of Rock Easton takes music education seriously. The talent of the performers coming through their program commands it.

“I want them to become real artists,” Albie Monterrosa, music director for the school, says of his students who range in age from 7 to 19 and skill level from beginner to advanced.

Artistic advancement is one of the reasons the school is expanding their current programming and educational space to include a recording studio and lounge for students to produce their own music.

The school will hold an open house to show off their new accommodations 1 to 2 p.m. today during Garlic Fest in Easton at their location, 19 S. Bank St. Students will perform a greatest hits set, pulling songs from shows they have performed throughout the year, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. outside the school.

Monterrosa says he cannot stress the value of the new space enough. He says he knows the importance of real world application from his experience as front-man in Latin rock band deSol.

“I’m spreading what I already have learned,” he says.

The newly expanded teaching space includes a 1,400-square-foot professional recording studio that includes a control room, creativity lounge, vocal and instrument isolation booths and live sound stage. A new class places students in a songwriting and recording studio environment, featuring a weekly private music lesson and 90-minute pre-production session.

“These kids want to express themselves,” Monterrosa says.

He says other inspirations for the new space came from the success of a summer camp the school conducted this year on songwriting and from students’ interest in musical careers.

“I want to do something with music,” Bangor High School student Mark Fiorentino, 17, says of his post-high school graduation goals. “I want to start a band.”

The vocal powerhouse, who seems shy in conversation, screams through Iron Maiden tunes on stage. Fiorentino says he is mostly an A and B student and is also considering a career in biology and wildlife. A percussionist, he started learning the drums in fourth grade.

“All these kids started somewhere,” Ray Thierren, co-owner of the Easton school says. “But they had to start playing with other kids to get better.”

School of RockView full sizeExpress-Times Photo | MATT SMITHMusic Director Albie Monterrosa (top) and Studio Engineer Dave Reiser (bottom) operate the controls of a mixing board at the School of Rock. The board is part of new recording equipment being shown off at the school during an open house this Saturday.

The school offers individual lessons but also pairs students in band and group environments to further their skills both musically and interpersonally. The progress students achieve from first stepping into the school is epic and shows on stage, Monterrosa says.

“Some kids come in hanging their head,” he says. “But then they find their culture.”

All skill levels are welcome at the school. Instructors assess each student and blend them into bands. Monterrosa says kids do come in skeptical and nervous about the process.

“But then they want to stay,” he says.

The finished product is perhaps better than many seasoned rock cover bands.

“I am so amazed,” guitar instructor James Maurer says during a dress rehearsal before an Iron Maiden versus Metallica performance. “I would pay to see these guys.”

Much of the school’s curriculum centers on teaching fundamentals based on techniques used by established rock bands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Grateful Dead. Monterrosa says teaching the classics is a staple in rock music education, but he also wants his students to be able to move on from only mastering covers.

He says sometimes this requires a little coaxing on the staff’s part.

“They all think they can’t but creativity is in all of us,” he says.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/music/index.ssf/2011/10/school_of_rock_easton_adds_new.html