Jean is an amazing young woman who is not only a brilliant songwriter and wonderful vocalist, but she also plays many instruments, French Horn, mandolin/guitars and of course the piano.
Jean started piano lessons with me when she was in the fifth grade and continued on through her junior year in high school. Her brother also studied with me and is a very fine vocalist as well.
I remember that with Jean we did the usual piano repertory and then one day she brought in a lead sheet for the song "Orange Colored Sky" and told me she was working on it (as a vocalist) but would like to be able to play and accompany herself. I told her that she would have to switch gears and learn about chord symbols and how to build them, how to play them and sing at the same time-and she said yes-that's what she wanted to learn. Somewhere in her sophomore or junior year of high school she wrote the music, recorded and released her first cd with another vocalist friend of hers. After that, it was Smith College,then the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and the Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts-where she graduated with degrees from both and was chosen as the speaker for the graduating class for all of the schools that year-some of you may remember her speech which was nationally covered by Keith Olberman, The Huffington Post, to the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival Shure Vocal Competition 2nd place and audience choice awards, to a 2009 Blue Mountain Center Artist in Residency, to traveling around the world and being an activist for human rights and the environment.
I always tell my piano studio parents that being a piano teacher is a privilege. I am usually the only teacher they have for so many years continuously, and I get to watch them grow up. From the adorable cute elementary school age, to the hormonally charged junior high years, to the "I'm ready to learn about the world" high school years and if I'm really lucky onto young adulthood.
It all starts with "these are the white keys and the black keys and can you tell me how the black keys are grouped?" Or maybe, "this is the bass clef and this is the treble clef, your left hand plays the bottom staff and your right hand plays the top staff and middle C is right in the middle-just like it is on the piano"-and away we go. Through all the different styles of music and the readiness and maturity to learn different styles of music. No matter how everything ends up, as long as they can read the music, play the piano and express themselves through the music of their choice, I am happy, I feel as though I have done my job. It is the proverbial "icing on the cake" when I get to pay back that privilege by doing something like this-producing a concert-life is good!
And I just want to add a shout out of thanks to her parents Ann and Jimmy who are also wonderful singers, who faithfully brought her and her brother to the lessons and to the recitals. Wonderful things happen when parents are dedicated and supportive-we piano teachers can't do it without you!
To learn more about both of these wonderful performers you can go to Jean Rohe and to Rogerio Boccato
Music for the Soul Concert Series presents:
Vocalist Jean Rohe and Brazilian Percussionist Rogerio Boccato
Sat Feb 5th 8PM
Allwood Community Church
100 Chelsea Rd
Clifton, NJ 07012
973.777.6360
$10 donation
Meet the artists after the concert and light refreshments
http://www.allwoodcommunitychurch.com/
