Marquis Julien sat with a group of residents in Jawonio’s Nyack Studio Arts program back in March and asked them what they like about music.
They spoke about how music makes them feel, both listening to it and performing, and everything else they enjoy about music. The group’s conclusion, to be short, is that music is amazing.
Julien, a , used their discussion to write a song title “Music Is Amazing.”
On Wednesday, members from the program debuted the song during a live performance with some help from Camp Venture’s Rockademy program. It was the first joint performance by groups from Jawonio and Camp Venture, and they were asked to perform at the JCC Maccabi Games by Elyse Hausner, a co-chair of the , an organization that brings athletes from the game into the community one day during their week stay to volunteer.
The group of 30-plus performed on a stage set up in the Eugene Levy Fieldhouse at Rockland Community College for a crowd that swelled into triple digits as the athletes arrived back at RCC from volunteering as part of JCC Cares.
“This was something we had been working on for months already,” Julien said. “It was great for both groups. It gives them a morale boost, and it’s something they can look forward to.”
There was some live instrumentation in the three-song performance, including a tambourine, bass and guitar. The guitar was played by Ryan Vosler, the musical director of Camp Venture.
“It was just a song before we started working with them,” Julien said. “Ryan really brought the track to life by adding in the instruments.”
During the performance, most on stage wore big smiles, while many in the crowd clapped along. After the performance, a few athletes walked away en route to lunch singing “Music is Amazing.”
