Blog

The Wharton Performing Arts School in Berkeley Heights presented a day of recitals by students of all ages and instruments on Sunday, February 4 where 35 students performing flute, piano, violin, cello, guitar, saxophone, musical theater, and voice had the chance to delight an audience of close to a hundred enthusiastic listeners in four concerts throughout the day. Plainfield resident Gail Bayse, who has studied cello at the Performing Arts School for five years, performed on three of the four Super Recital Sunday concerts. Bayse was introduced to the cello in grade school and went on to complete an undergraduate degree in vocal music education. She taught K-12 vocal music for two years, but always regrets the day that she gave up the cello. She didn’t realize there was a venue for adult music studies.

Fast forward to almost six years ago when Bayse was awarded a ten-year tenure bonus from the company she worked for at the time, and after having a conversation with a Berkeley Heights resident and friend who suggested she look into adult study at Wharton, she used the bonus to rent a cello and sign up for a year of private lessons at the Performing Arts School. Today, Bayse works at a Japanese bank in New York City as an Internal Information Technology Auditor, assuring the confidentiality, integrity, availability of her company’s systems and data.

Says Bayse, “As you might imagine, the audit profession is fairly routine and does not encourage creativity. Cello is my escape from the mundane.  As an adult, it is the one part of my life that I do for me. No one pays me to do it; no one depends on me to do it; I do not get graded on it; no one demands that I get in my practice time. It is literally and figuratively my “play” time.  I commute on average four hours a day to get to work. Between my commute, my work life, and my responsibilities at home, I tuck in as much practice time as I can. This is often late night and it is quite relaxing. Saturday and Sunday mornings, before weekly errands, are also “cello-time.” I loved Super Recital Sunday. We do not often get to hear other areas of study that Wharton offers—I can’t remember the last time I heard a saxophone soloist or a budding vocalist accompanying himself.  It was very encouraging.”

Adds Bayse, “Super Recital Sunday was also scheduled the week before our winter cello recital.  I was able to play multiple times and am hopeful that it tames my performance jitters for the upcoming recital!”

For more information about all of the Performing Arts School’s programs, visit call 908-790-0700.

Meet pianist and Chatham resident, Darren Yen, 17, who has been awarded the Grand Prix prize at the 2018 Rising Talents Festival for the third consecutive year. A junior at Chatham High School, Darren has studied piano for 7 years at the Wharton Performing Arts School, during which time has received numerous tops prizes including the Music Educators Association of New Jersey Competition, Golden Key Festival, Russian Music Festival, Rising Talents Festival, Crescendo International Music Competion, Little Mozarts Competition, and Prima Volta Music Competition.

Although Darren also plays flute and has studied music theory at Wharton’s Performing Arts School, his true passion is the piano. He rarely misses a day of practice, usually putting in between one to two hours at the instrument seven days a week. He recently performed Franz Liszt’s Rigoletto Paraphase, a transcription of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto at the 2018 “Making Music Count” Gala on February 23 which raised nearly $130,000 towards performing arts education for the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts.

Says Darren, “The Liszt piece I performed was not only very technically demanding, like most Liszt pieces, but it was also a fairly emotionally demanding piece as well. Lots of attention had to be paid to the voicing and overall flow of the piece. I truly enjoy how different Rigoletto is from most other Liszt compositions—mainly because this is a paraphrase on a piece by Verdi. This piece effectively captures the composing style of not only Liszt but also Verdi as well.”

Darren’s favorite subject in school in mathematics and he hopes to continue studying math in the future, as well continuing to play the piano.

“I truly enjoy playing the piano because I find it to be my greatest medium of expression. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t return to the piano,” says Darren. “I really enjoy the atmosphere at Wharton. Everyone shares a profound love for music that enriches the musical abilities of the students enrolled in Wharton’s music programs.”

Darren’s piano teacher, Wharton faculty member Anna Vozhik, has been teaching at the Performing Arts School for 15 years. Says Vozhik, “Darren showed a keen interest from his first piano lesson. He has never come to class unprepared in the nearly eight years that he has been my student. Demanding and persistent in the best way possible, he has grown into a mature musician before my eyes with an impressive repertoire, including works by J.S. Bach, Brahms, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Ravel, Poulenc, and of course Liszt.”

Continues Vozhik, “Darren is always focused and a great listener. During our lessons we discuss how to best perform a piece of music, and Darren loves to research works he is playing. I often wonder where he finds the time for all his accomplishments. Exceptionally organized and goal-oriented, he’s held numerous performances in Carnegie and other prestigious concert halls of New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey. Darren is a beautiful soul, and a pleasure to teach.”

Not only Darren but also his two siblings, Preston, 15, and Natalie, 11, study piano with Vozhik at Wharton. Says their mother, Janet Li, “There were two music schools around our area, one of which was Wharton. We felt that Wharton had more teachers, offered more music courses, and a more complete structure than the other music school. We know we made the right choice! The school is wonderful and the teachers are amazing. Anna Vozhik is truly an excellent and amazing teacher. She is strict and patient which works very well with my kids. We love her dearly!”