HochStories

As we start the new school year at Hochstein, we encourage you to unlock your full potential by exploring the boundless opportunities available at our School. Our doors are wide open, inviting you to discover the endless possibilities that await you here. Read on for the full message from Hochstein President & Executive Director Hilary Respass ...

Hochstein faculty members are taking part in a number of events at the Rochester Fringe Festival, which starts on Tuesday, September 12 and runs through Saturday, September 23. Events include a showcase of percussive dance, including tap; dynamic Latin dance; a 13-piece jazz band; and an evening of stand-up comedy and drag. Read on for a list of where you can find Hochstein at Fringe this year.

At the Hochstein All-Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, September 5, Hochstein President & Executive Director Hilary Respass recognized 16 members of the faculty and staff for milestone anniversaries with the School, from 5 years to 45 years. In addition, Marcos Kreutzer received the 2023 Faculty Service Award.

Two weeks of CMC summer camps – one for strings and piano and another for woodwind and brass instruments – offered fun and challenging opportunities for school-age students to learn the art of ensemble playing and connect with other musicians in a small group setting. View a photo album ...

At the new “Around the World of Dance” summer camp earlier this month, led by Dance Department Chair Wynton Rice, students ages 7-18 learned many different ways of moving including contemporary, modern, hip hop, and Afrobeats. View a photo album...

Hochstein’s weeklong Arts in Action Summer Camps take young children on a journey filled with music, art, and movement. This summer, the three sessions covered topics ranging from dinosaurs and paleontology (A Prehistoric Performance); the instruments, songs, and dances of jazz (Jazzed About Jazz); and food and cooking (Music in the Kitchen). Read more and view a photo album.

Hochstein student Michael Meindl started taking Piano 101 classes with Dr. Yi-Wen Chang in 2013 and has continued taking individual lessons over the past 10 years. Yi-Wen tells us that he played piano by ear before taking lessons at Hochstein, then switched to playing using sheet music. Read on for more of his story and hear Mike's recording of "When a Man Loves a Woman."

Hochstein alum Jon Dretto took voice lessons with Sandra Boysen Sluberski as a teenager growing up in Webster. Today he is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and TikTok sensation. In May, he released his debut single and a music video for mental health awareness month, which you can watch here.

Started in Fall 2012, Hochstein’s Making Music, Making Strides (MMMS) program – offered in partnership with the YMCA of Greater Rochester – currently provides tuition-free group music classes to more than 50 pre-K children ages 3-5 at two YMCA branches. The MMMS classes at the YMCA teach music and movement as well as new skills and lessons. These classes, provided at no cost to families, help children to develop not only as musicians and dancers but as complete learners.

As a Hochstein student in 1990, Bhavana Chawla was among a group of students who posed for a picture for Hochstein’s 70th anniversary poster. She took flute lessons at Hochstein with Diane Smith and studied piano with Jennifer Lacy. In the picture, she is wearing a red top and a white pair of shorts. Bhavana sent us a photo of her niece, Marigold, who is now about the same age she was in the poster.