HochStories

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.

Walk into the Hochstein waiting room on a Saturday morning and you'll hear the sound of music, of dance shoes, of laughter. In this video, you’ll experience a typical day at Hochstein, a crossroads in our community.

Joseph Mancini has been a voice student of Sandra Boysen Sluberski at The Hochstein School since his early ‘80s and gave his first recital in 2015 and a second one in 2017 at age 88. Mancini has sung all his life and even took voice lessons 60 years ago, but has found the greatest joy and satisfaction from his classes at Hochstein.

When Josh comes to his cello lesson with Kathy Kemp every Monday morning, the mission is to address his specific circumstances and needs. Josh started taking lessons with Kathy when he was 7 years old, and he’s worked diligently for the past four years to master elements of cello technique and musical knowledge so that he can play more challenging pieces.