“When I grow up, I will be smart enough to answer all the questions that you need to know”
I grew up on Long Island and found my love for singing at a really young age. My first performance was at summer camp and I was 7 years old. I was hooked. I loved the friends I made through singing, and I loved being on stage. It was around that time I started to take voice lessons and perform in musical theatre every chance I could get. My parents had a small record collection made up mostly of Broadway Show cast albums like “Jesus Christ Super Star” and “The Wiz.” I’d put a record on and harmonize with my sister; it was such a happy part of my childhood.
My mom drove me from Long Island to Manhattan once a week for lessons at Carnegie Hall with Charlie Lowe, a vaudevillian performer, a true ‘song-and-dance’ man. One thing he taught was “personality” because of his background in Vaudeville. He showed his students how to connect with an audience, and it is a concept I still use today. Singing became a core part of my identity. I did all the school musicals and was in my high school chorus. I performed every summer at sleep away camp. When I got too old to be a camper, I went back as a counselor and directed the plays. Music became how I connected with people.
“So many faces all around, and here we go.”
I did go to a college that offered music, but I wasn’t sure of the direction I wanted to go in so I followed a liberal arts track. I did try Opera when I was in college, but it didn’t suit me. It was like learning a brand-new instrument. However, on weekends I worked on campus with a teacher who gave vocal lessons to teenagers. The classes focused on musical theatre and cabaret, much more my wheelhouse. I loved the work and the music, just like I loved my sleepaway camp experience. They were similar because I was working with kids who were embracing music.
After graduation I was still interested in singing. I even took classes at the renowned HB Studios, a non-profit performing arts school in New York City. It was founded by Herbert Berghof (hence the name) and later led by Uta Hagen. Even though I loved singing, real life was creeping in and I wasn’t sure where music fit. I started working in retail and eventually became a successful Buyer in e-commerce.
“C’mon, let’s go and play”
Once I had children, music slowly made its way back into my life. When we had long car rides, I started singing with my kids. Then I got a ukulele and taught myself how to play. Eventually we started singing together as a family and harmonizing. It was a wonderful way to spend time together. This exposure started both of my sons on their musical journey. When my oldest son was 4 years old, I connected with another family at his pre-school who also had a child interested in music. Their son, Milo, was a drummer, and even though they were young, he invited my son to join his band. I realized kids could work together and make music in a band at any age.
In 2017, Milo’s parents and I put on the first Kids Rock for Kids fundraiser in Brooklyn. Our goal was to give young musicians a stage (literally and figuratively) and raise money for a local charity and a global (youth related) charity. CHiPS (Community Help in Park Slope), a soup kitchen, food pantry and transitional shelter for young mothers and infants in Brooklyn was our local charity and AFCECO (Afghan Child Education and Care Organization), an organization that runs safe homes and orphanages for vulnerable children from Afghanistan, especially girls, was our global one.
“To fight for the right without question or pause”
The yearly fundraiser got bigger and bigger, and the number of teen musicians wanting to participate kept growing. We would sell out all of our shows and had to find bigger venues. A local news station in New York covered one of our events and that’s when my partners (and Milo’s parents) Dave and Christina and I decided to create an official 501c3 charity to see where this could go.
In the beginning of 2020, we booked a large venue and held city wide auditions for tween and teen musicians from the tri-state (NY-NJ-CT) area. Our big launch was in April 2020, and, as we all know, the world shut down about 2 weeks before. In fact, Kids Rock for Kids put together one of the first online fundraisers on YouTube and Facebook, with filmed performances from the kids that were meant to perform at the April event. Since we couldn’t do live shows for a year and half, it became a pivotal moment because we had to get creative.
We put together a virtual collaboration band with one virtuoso player from every continent except Antarctica and called them the “Six Continents Band.” The kids performed from their bedrooms, and we put together several music videos of their jams, which people loved. We built relationships with young musicians all over the world who were locked in their houses but wanted to play music with whoever they could. When the lockdown finally lifted, we invited all of the kids from around the world and launched our first global festival. We just finished our 5th one! We are building a joyful, supportive community made up of thousands of teen musicians.
“Spread sunshine all over the place”
Kids Rock for Kids has two “missions”: To give kids from around the world a stage to play music and connect with a vibrant community of youth musicians, and to encourage them to become globally minded citizens. At some of our first shows we had Afghan students play over Skype and then stay on to watch the Brooklyn Kids perform, making it a true global connection. One of the Afghan girls escaped the Taliban, and after a harrowing journey, came to New York. She is now a big part of KRFK. We are currently working on a program for girls in Afghanistan in safe houses wherein they write songs and then hear them sung back to them by American teen performers. Under the Taliban’s strict laws, music and public performances are banned, and women are legally prohibited from singing or letting their voices be heard in public spaces.
We have a lot of kids involved in KRFK. Not just musicians but: photographers, videographers, audio engineers, editors, etc. We are keeping them very busy with all of our initiatives.
The musicians we feature span a wide range of experience — from emerging bands just starting out to highly accomplished young players like The Only Bay, the 11-year-old guitar shredder who made it to the semifinals of America’s Got Talent, and Vinya Chhabra, who appeared on The Voice at just 14 years old!
“Framed in the spotlight, basking in that hot light”
What makes Kids Rock for Kids so special is that it isn’t competitive. We don’t charge the bands to play. The performers all love participating and supporting each other. We now provide music for street fairs, parties, galas, and have performed a set at Governors Ball music festival for the past 3 years!
Due to my background of singing and working with kids, people ask me for advice on how to “make it” in music. Honestly, I tell people to do everything we do at KRFK. Get as many opportunities as you can, wherever you can, and take them all. You learn something about yourself at every performance, especially when things go wrong. We always tell our kids that collaborating with musicians you don’t have a history with can teach you so much. You learn to communicate with people you don’t know or adjust your style for one gig or end up with a new best friend.
Making connections with other musicians and building a supportive community is incredibly affirming. You’d be surprised at how many life skills are built by playing in a band from a young age. You learn discipline, how to negotiate, stand up for yourself, compromise, adapt, listen to what others are saying, leadership. I could go on and on. Music transcends language, and KIDS ROCK FOR KIDS is proof!
Learn more about KIDS ROCK FOR KIDS! Get involved here and follow them on Instagram here!