Three Montclair Grade 4 students win 3rd Annual Recorder Challenge

Montclair Early Music, a non-profit organization focused on raising awareness and appreciation of medieval and Renaissance music, announced the winners of the third annual Recorder Challenge.

Three of the five winners are fourth grade students from Montclair.

The winners are: David Aguilar, Kimaya Sayles and Avi Webber from Montclair; and Jacob Viruet and Naeli Hernandez de Belleville.

The children first received lessons via Zoom, then outdoors.

“These kids are amazing. It has been a pleasure to teach them, ”said Julienne Pape, President of Montclair Early Music, in a group announcement. She provided the lessons.

The winners performed and memorized folk songs and were accompanied by the Montclair Early Music Consort at their outdoor concert “Don Quixote and the Music of His Time” on August 19 at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield.

“We believe that music can have a huge impact on learning and self-confidence in all walks of life, and recorder music has a rich history and a vast repertoire,” Pape said. “In particular, the recorder, while easy to play, is much more than the ‘Hot Cross Buns’ most of us learned in elementary school. We hope that our support to area schools and their students will contribute to their success in the future and improve the appreciation of recorder music.

At the start of the program, last year’s winner, Lindsay Chabla de Belleville, performed a solo from ‘Quem Omagen’, a twelfth^e Spanish coin of the century written for King Alfonso X.

The event was recorded and will be broadcast on TV-34. For more information visit MontclairEarlyMusic.org