BANDS AT BEACON

OFFERINGS of the BEACON MUSIC PROGRAM:
Beacon is committed to maintaining an enriching and exemplary music program, one anchored in the belief that music education is fundamental to our well-being, both personally and communally. Despite the recent trend to remove music education from New York's public schools, the Beacon Music Program is determined to offer a sustainable and rewarding program of music education for our diverse and talented student body.

Following are the course selections:
  • MUSIC THEORY
  • GUITAR and SONGWRITING
  • PERCUSSION
Extracurricular Opportunities:
  • Rock Band with Brian Letiecq
  • Rock & Pop with Gian Stone
  • Franky Wednesdays with Franky DiDonato
  • Rock, Soul & Pop with Gabe Cummins
  • THE BEACON JAZZ and FUNK REVUE with Gabe Cummins
  • THE BALANCE (cellists, violinists, and guitar players learn to rock and funk with Sean Grissom
  • SOUND ENGINEERING (students learn the craft of running a recording studio with Chris Medina
  • Master Classes in Sound Engieering with Andrew Felluss
  • INDEPENDENT BANDS (students are encouraged to form bands and are given access to practice rooms, instructional support, and performance opportunities.)

The MUSIC STAFF: COOKING WITH FLAVOR
Beacon offers an enriching and engaging course of music study and appreciation, including classes in theory, instrumentation, and musicology. A key tenet of our philosophy is rooted in the principles of practice and hard work, with the goal of creating quality performance opportunities. We make music education a fundamental building block in children's lives. Our mission is to awaken, inspire, and further the appreciation of and participation in music study and performance.

Brian Letiecq is a fourteen-year veteran who has spent the past six years as an English and music teacher at The Beacon School. He holds a bachelor's degree in English and Spanish literature and a master's degree in education. Brian has studied music theory and composition with Pete Davis and Victor Kioulaphides, and has performed as a recording and session guitarist with Kenneth Schalk, Doug Clark, Steve Lucas, and Jeff Solomon.

Andrew Felluss is an independent recording engineer and producer with over ten years experience in the recording studio and artist relations environment. Andrew is a Manhattan-based recording engineer, producer, and voting member of NARAS. The Felluss Recording studio is an extension of Andrew's freelance work in the music, film, and television industries, where he has contributed to the works of artists like Ray Charles and Carly Simon as well as emerging artists like Ryan O'Neill.

Gabe Cummins is a professional guitarist who performs regularly at NYC's foremost jazz, rock and R&B clubs, including the Knitting Factory, Blue Note, Smoke, and the Village Vanguard. Over the course of his career, Gabe has worked with some of the biggest names in jazz including John Scofield, Lenny Pickett, and Kenny Werner. In his debut release If You Were You, funk, rock, jazz, blues, zydeco, R&B, and reggae combine to create a sound that is classic, yet remarkably fresh.

Sean Grissom hit the Big Apple in 1979 and studied with Channing Robbins of the Juilliard School, earning a M.A. in music performance from Hunter College in 1984. He is an international cellist who has performed in Japan, Canada, and throughout Europe. Sean has produced and released three recordings and has published a book of cello duets What! For Cello? as well as a Solo Cello Encore Series. Sean performs in the New York City subways as the "Cajun Cellist."

Frankie DiDonato is a graduate of City University of New York where he received a scholarship to study music education at New York University. A guitarist and songwriter since the age of 10 he also has written for the stage and film, (Best score NYU festival 1999). He currently leads Nova~Columbo which umbrella's several projects. Here he shares the spotlight with his wife, vocalist and writing partner Gina DiDonato. You can visit them at http://www.novacolumbo.com Though a performer for years on the New York City scene as a multi-instrumentalist Frankie now finds teaching and learning his most stimulating endeavors. His hero's include Lev Vygotsky, the Russian psychologist and educator who believed children go beyond themselves through supportive interaction, not necessarily strict instruction. He is in the process of formulating his guitar method F,f,S,s into a book entitled "A Relational Approach to Learning".