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Arts & Entertainment

Oswego East School of Rock Concert Rocks

If more school finals included a rock concert, students would probably study a lot harder.

Tuesday night students took a very special final exam.

It came with guitars, keyboards and speakers. It was the final for the School of Rock class. Parents, students and the public attended a concert of original music and skilled performances. By the final song, “Tell Me Something Good.” by Oreo, the audience was clapping and singing along.

Held in the school's Community Room, the concert sustained an atmosphere not possible in an auditorium. Every performer appeared relaxed in front of the audience. Occasional snafus, instead of mortifying the singers, were used for comical banter.

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The performances encompassed a wide variety of styles from elegant ballads like “Lucas” by CC Bundy to death metal's “The Best Day Ever.” by Luis Alcantara and Corey Fyock. Alternative Rock fans enjoyed the opening number “Past My Bedtime” by Lost in a Can of Pringles. While those who like a more classic style enjoyed the jazzy song “Tell Me Something Good.”

Mike Enu-Enwosu's “Just Chillin” was poetry put to music about working at a hamburger joint. Experienced electrical guitarist, Matt Llanes, showed off his acoustic guitar skills with “The Abyss.” While Ashley Emery and Rachael Nielson immortalized their friendship with the amusing ballad “IDK, My BFF Ash & Rach.”

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If anyone believed that adolescents never bother asking deep questions, they changed their minds as Dan Reifsteck asked 'Where is the face of God?' in his song “Landslide.” Other excellent performances included “Banana Time” by Brad Armstrong and Mike Naeem; “Battle of Our Life” by Dance with Ewoks; “Never Enough” by Morgan Brown; “Corruption” by Visions of Jamestowne and “Grief Song” by Gerard Butler's Funhouse Emporium.

Each song had its own special style, yet the blended seamlessly into an exciting concert that must have been as fun to perform as it was to watch.

School of Rock class encompasses sections on lyrical analysis, keyboard or guitar lessons, song composition and performance.

“Music is everything to teens,” said instructor Sarah Jones. “It is how they identify themselves. So by learning to analyze music they learn more about themselves.”

Students must perform in class, at the 'lunch' concert for other students and, during the final exam, for the general public. Dan Reifsteck says there is a difference when your performing your own compositions.

“It exposes you. You hope they understand what you're trying to say,” he said. “You do not really get the full experience unless you perform.”

The students believe they come away from the class with a whole new perspective on music. Corey Fyock described listening to Pearl Jam's “Jeremy” while doing homework and suddenly discovering deeper meaning in a song he had heard many times before. Kwame Caldwell credits the class with pushing her to new strengths as a performer and an artist.

Young or old, anyone who attended the School of Rock final exam wished they could enroll in the class next year.

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