New Jersey Youth Symphony Alumna Jenise Grice
When Jenise Grice was in her junior year of high school, she became an inaugural member of NJYS in 1979, but she had been playing in orchestras since she was 11-years-old and has continued to play for the rest of her life. “ I attended Newark Arts High School in my hometown,” she said proudly. Some of the luminaries who’ve attended her alma mater, which was founded in 1931, include Sarah Vaughan, Melba Moore, jazz artists Wayne Shorter, Woody Shaw, Philadelphia Orchestra trumpeter Seymore Rosenfeld, music directors Mort Lindsey, Charlie Calello, and actor Michael B. Jordan, among others. “I’m the oldest of four siblings – two boys and two girls.” Her parents and siblings weren’t musicians but they loved music. Her siblings played instruments and sang, but she was the only one who continued to play. Grice played in orchestras in elementary school until she was eleven-years old. She was in a preparatory orchestra and advanced to the junior symphony. Frank Scocozza was the conductor and when he found out about NJYS, he wanted to get his best players to audition. She was in that group. “At the time, Bergen Youth Orchestra was the competition. Mom would schlep me to rehearsals all over the entire state. NJYS mostly served Summit, Union, and Morris counties.” She was also playing in an orchestra at the Mannes Music Prep in Manhattan, but she has extremely fond memories playing in NJYS and enjoys attending the alumni events. She joked that her stand mate said, “Wow, you’re pretty good” and she replied, “Well, I’m a professional musician and old enough to be your mother, so I better be!”
When she talks about George Marriner Maull, her eyes light up. “I loved him because he brought the joy of the music to us. He wanted us to love it as much as he did. Some conductors back then were tyrannical, but not George. He could be stern,” she said reminiscing. “He’d say something like ‘I do a lot of preparation so I expect you to do the same.’ We sincerely felt bad if we didn’t have a good rehearsal, but we always listened and respected him.” She still remembers the music he selected for them, like Háry János Suite by Kodaly. “It felt like it was the most important piece in the world because you knew you were really going to learn something and why you were playing it.”
In 1980-1981, she went to her first competition in DC. “My parents probably sold something for NJYS for me to go on that trip!” When she graduated, she attended Hartt School of Music at University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut. “I had a huge advantage because I had been playing music for hours every day at Arts High School. When I took my theory classes, they thought I was a composition major.” She had taken theory classes at Newark Arts High School and later taught theory at NJYS. George Marriner Maull hired her to work at NJYS from 1988 to 1989. “At that time Michael Avagliano was the violinist, 3rd Chair, and now he’s a conductor for the Summit Symphony Orchestra!”
Grice performs with the Plainfield Symphony, the Somerset Symphony, and the Summit Symphony. “Sometimes I’m a ringer for Brooklyn Phil and Staten Island Phil,” she added. “I have a day job in the post office in the USPS division. My father worked for the post office and told me I should always have a steady job. I’ve been there for 39 years, but I’ve never stopped playing music.”
Grice married her soulmate Tony Reedus, a celebrated jazz musician who performed in Woody Shaw’s band with Dave Stryker, Kenny Garrett, Freddie Hubbard, and many other famous musicians. “We were married for 1 year, but I was with him for 20 years,” she said. “We understood each other.” She met him for the first time at Sweet Basil and would go hear him play music when he worked at the Village Vanguard. “It was a great time.”
Her daughter Cameron is a singer and has performed the Black National Anthem at basketball games and acted in a play for the first time in January. Grice is a close friend of Terence Blanchard when he was playing with Art Blakely and the Jazz Messengers, her favorite band. He is one of the most famous American trumpeters, pianists, and composers. “He’s composed more than 50 film and TV scores, and he’s the first Black composer to have his opera performed at the MET.”
There’s no question that Grice knows a lot of classical and jazz musicians, “I’m always happy to run into an alum from NJYS!”
Just before she ran off to take her daughter to a play rehearsal, she said, “My daughter is the one who likes to bake.” Her eyes were twinkling as she took a bite out of her bacon and cheese bun fresh from the oven at Bakehouse in New Providence.