Student Receives Music Award - Future Winners Wait in the Wings

In his beautifully equipped Upper School music classroom, Andrew Lyman welcomes dozens of students each week as he guides this new facet of our arts program. Lyman offers instruction on a variety of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments to students of any skill level. He is not only cultivating new talent but creating synergies between beginners and students who have been taking private lessons outside of Peck for years.

 

Lyman looks for opportunities to spotlight the talents of his young musicians in a variety of ways. There will be two formal performances of the Peck instrumental ensemble at the end of the school year, and throughout the year he asks students to showcase their solo talents at school assemblies, community events, and morning jam sessions. He also nominates standout musicians for the Mayo Performing Arts Center’s (MPAC) Student of the Month Program (MSOM).

 

Now in its sixteenth year, the MSOM program honors Morris County middle and high school students not only for their excellence as musicians but also for the dedication, leadership, and commitment they show to their entire school community. Lyman’s most recent nominee, sixth-grader Alex Salamon, has just been selected for the honor.

 

Salamon is a talented flute player and member of the New Jersey Youth Symphony. He also serves as a section leader in Peck’s ensemble. Salamon is not the first student at Peck to be either nominated or chosen for the MSOM Award, and will surely not be the last.

“The wonderful thing about our instrumental music program is that we are not only supporting the growth of new musicians, but we are tapping into the talents of student musicians who have been taking lessons for years outside of Peck,” said Lyman. “If we hadn’t started the instrumental music program, I’m not sure I would have known that Alex was a flutist of this caliber.”

 

As an award winner, Salamon receives two complimentary tickets to the upcoming performance of the world-renowned flute duo Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway at MPAC. He will receive his MSOM award during that performance. Salamon will also participate in a student recital at MPAC at the end of the school year with all of the year’s award recipients.

 

 In addition to the instrumental music program, the arts continue to flourish at Peck with a robust choral program, drama offerings, a handbell ensemble, a Lower and Upper School general music program, a Grade 3-8 woodworking curriculum, and Kindergarten to Grade 8 fine and digital art curriculum.

 

Annually, members of the Peck community can enjoy two Kindergarten musical plays, a winter Upper School musical play, the traditional Winter and Spring All-School Sing, and an eighth-grade Play.

 

For more on the Peck Arts Program visit: www.peckschool.org/arts