HochStories

Kieran is 7 years old and has been a Hochstein student for more than five years. He is a smart, funny boy who also happens to be blind and have some other special needs. His mother tells us, “He started in the FUNdamentals classes at age two and progressed through Musical Stepping Stones. For about the last two and a half years, he has taken piano lessons through the Expressive Arts program. “In FUNdamentals, Kieran’s teacher truly went ‘above and beyond.’ ..."

Two adult students at Hochstein – Katie McAninch and Robert Burch-Lau – met a couple of years ago when they both had voice lessons in the studio of Hochstein voice instructor, Dr. Sandra Boysen Sluberski. She encouraged them to work on some duets, since their voices were compatible, and in March 2018 they sang “First Date/Last Night,” from the musical Dogfight, in a recital on the Hochstein stage. This past summer, they got engaged!

Meet Jackie, our Expressive Arts “Artist of the Month”! Jackie writes: “I’m 21 and have multiple disabilities. I’ve been coming to Hochstein since 2011. At first, I just took art and music therapies. Then I added photography and dance. The classes have helped me develop my talents. My instructors are patient when I’m learning something new. They really listen to what I want to do.”

Congratulations to Pia Liptak, who received the Hochstein Faculty Service Award at Hochstein’s All-Faculty meeting on Saturday September 7! One of Hochstein’s violin instructors, Co-Chair of the String department, and director of the HochStrings adult chamber ensemble, Pia was recognized as a dedicated teacher and for her wonderful rapport with students.

When people think of The Hochstein School, they often imagine school-aged students taking lesson but really, students of all ages find new skills and strengths when they come to Hochstein. Joe Bedard, a Gulf War veteran, came to Hochstein with the desire to try something new. He moved to Rochester within the last year and saw a sign about songwriting classes and came in to inquire. He started studying songwriting with Dr. Dave Chisholm and began writing and singing original songs.

For Louise Vigdor, music therapy is the key to unlocking some of her happiest memories of the past through song. Louise Vigdor has been coming to The Hochstein School for several years now. Working with music therapist Maria Battista Hancock and other therapists in Hochstein’s music therapy department, Louise finds joy as she engages and reconnects with songs she remembers from before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Hochstein student Clara Ooyama danced in Hochstein's Winter Dance Showcase on Friday, December 2, 2016. What’s amazing about this: Clara is a pancreatic cancer survivor and experienced serious brain damage after her chemo treatments. Her dance and music therapy sessions in the expressive arts program at Hochstein have helped her to basically rewire her brain, using rhythm, dance, and breathing techniques to increase body awareness and balance, improve her ability to multitask, and recognize...

Kudos to Hochstein Youth Singer Luciano Pagano, who sang the boy soprano solo in Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” with the RPO and Rochester Oratorio Society, directed by Ward Stare, this past weekend at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. This is his fifth year singing with Hochstein Youth Singers, directed by Maryellen Giese, and he also takes private voice lessons with Dr. Sandra Boysen Sluberski here at Hochstein.

What would it have been like to hear David Hochstein play the violin? He only made a couple of recordings, including one of Fritz Kreisler’s “Liebeslied.”

Befikadu Mekonnen of Ethiopia took individual guitar lessons this past year with John Wiesenthal, chair of Hochstein’s guitar department. Mekonnen first came to the U.S. for diagnosis and treatment of an aggressive cancer in his right eye, and ended up studying at the Harley School in Rochester.