Holy Family DHS Alumni Site


Blog

The first musical blog entry: Pat Matos-Puente '76/'77

Posted by patmatos on October 22, 2006 at 8:46 PM

Greetings to my fellow Holy Family musicians! I hope this blog forum can be the start of a virtual reunion--hopefully, we'll make it into a real musical reunion soon. Here's my musical life in a nutshell:

 I majored in music in Wellesley College, a decision that definately got me into Medical School and certainly made my life more fun! I studied oboe with Josef Marx for the 2 summers after High School in NYC, and with Fernand Gillet in Boston (a BSO legend; he was 92 when my lessons began!). I started the Wellesley College Orchestra (still going strong) and conducted it for 2 years. In medical school, I had a violin/piano/oboe trio; at Mt Sinai, I played with the hospital orchestra and did the Bach Double concerto for oboe and violin. I found a great chamber music group in Montclair, NJ; we played Brandenbergs and Mozart concertos until we dropped! I moved to China, and later, Japan, where playing opportunities were few. I finally went back to taking lessons, having found  a great teacher in Japan who had studied with Joseph Robinson. Returning to NY, I now have a woodwind quintet that meets in my home in Northport, and I play principal oboe for the Stony Brook Univ. wind ensemble., and the Northport Community band. The Stony Brook Band is playing the Overture to Candide. It's a lot harder to play this piece than it is to conduct it; I only hope I can play it without crying!!

 My 16 yr old son Charlie plays string bass at St Anthony's (their orchestra has over 70 kids, in addition to concert and symphonic bands); my 13 yr old daughter Susan sings and (begrudgingly) plays the violin. My husband Jorge is not a musician but he is a great listener and my most loyal fan.

I hereby volunteer to organize a musical reunion. Send me your ideas and your where-abouts, and we'll see what comes of it.

Categories: None

Post a Comment

Oops!

Oops, you forgot something.

Oops!

The words you entered did not match the given text. Please try again.

Already a member? Sign In

5 Comments

Reply Sharon McGuire
12:27 AM on April 24, 2009 
Sharon McGuire (1974) Orchestra (worst cellist in the world) Chorus and Drama <br> <br>Everyone I meet from Holy Family always asks me 2 questions. Did I become an actress ? Did I marry that guy I was dating in high school (who actually appeared in <i>Mame</i> even though he was in college at the time)? Yes to both. I was a professional actress and singer for 10 years, had middling success ,but felt unchallenged by constantly playing sweet, little girls. So I went to Fordham Law School and became a lawyer. I married my high school sweetheart Jack Jenkins while I was in college. We didn't have children until our mid thirties, after we both got through law school. <br> <br>Jack and I have 3 great wonderful children. My daughter Alex (19) is at conservatory studying violin, my daughter Meg (15) is a high school flutist and budding cartoonist and my son Matt (13), who is autistic, is one heck of a trumpet player. Music is a must in our house. Due to my son's needs, I no longer practice law. I'm a non-profit consultant, specializing in the arts. So I found a way to combine art, music, civil rights law and my family in a way that suits me. <br> <br>I was thrilled to see people's names I hadn't thought of for a long time. Some of my best memories were of Stan Palmer, Mr. Nardotti, Sheila O'Shea and Charlie Clute. These were fine teachers and we were lucky students. Hope my fellow HF friends are having wonderful lives.
Reply anonymous
10:43 PM on March 22, 2008 
hey Patty....Joe cariello ....Fran told me about the page....tooooooo scary seeing those photos . Living in Fla ....ED physician ..23 kids ...you know 10 years married ..now divorced ...what ar u gonna do all is well ...hope to hear from u....joeyc
Reply Jim Turner '72
01:51 PM on January 09, 2008 
Jim Turner: Hey BAND MEMBERS! Doug Mazzola (also class of '72) and I got together in HOMESTEAD Florida for the last NASCAR race of the year in November 2007. I just remembered that he told me that he had seen and worked with MR Stan ? Palmer. He was a band teacher (woodwinds) with Mr Nardotti for several years during, and I believe after, my time in the band from 1969 to 1972. I remember him as a really nice and funny guy. Hope you do to. Anyway Stan and Doug worked several gigs together and Doug tells me it was a hoot. <br>Band time was always fun time for me.. The biggest problem was remembering if it was pep band, stage band, concert band , orchestra or what.. I haven't picked up a horn or sax in years, and I am sure the neighbors are grateful.. Regards to all members
Reply Tony Placilla
02:04 PM on February 28, 2007 
Pat, <br> <br>Wow. I *still* can't listen to <i>Candide</i> without a tear coming to my eye & memories flooding back. <br> <br>But back to the music. I went to SUNY Geneseo as a Physics major & took a minor in music theory & composition. I knew I didn't have the talent to make music a career so I went with the intention of getting into audio engineering (wanted to work for Bose) <br> <br>That didn't pan out but I've kept playing in local orchestras & bands up here and do a little composing for a local chamber choir I sing with. <br>The music did come out big-time in the next generation. My daughter, D'Arcy, is a cellist & plays with the <a href="http://www.rpo.org/s_4/s_24/Rochester_Philharmonic_Youth_Or
chestra/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra </a> and honors chamber ensembles at the Hochstein school <br>She's scoping out schools right now & it looks like she's going to get into Peabody as a performance major. I get the joy of listening to a boatload of Bach when she's home & practicing :-) <br> <br>Keep me apprised of any reunions that might get set <a href="mailto: up <br> <br>Tony <br> <br>placilla@gmail.com">up <br> <br>Tony <br> <br>placilla@gmail.com</a>
Reply Ray Keogh
04:06 PM on February 24, 2007 
Hello Pat! <br> <br>So glad to hear you have persevered with oboe (I seem to remember when you were still a clarinet player as a lower classman at HF!) <br> <br>After a twenty year absence, I finally picked up my viola (then violin) and have been playing for the last 5 or 6 years with the West Islip Symphony orchestra, and with a little string quartet comprised of friends from WISO. <br> <br>I actually was a music major at Buffalo for a couple of years--before it occurred to me I was going to starve to death!--and switched to Electrical Engineering. <br> <br>Neat that you lived in China--whereabouts? I have been traveling to Asia for the past ten years or so on business (generally Shen Zhen via Hong Kong these days), following ten years of mostly business travel in Europe before that, a period I now think of as the good old days. <br> <br>I am currently head of the Product Development group at D'Addario & Co (parent company of Rico Reeds--hey, I can get reeds for you wholesale!), married for twenty five years with two girls, the youngest of which is an honors student graduating from Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead in June; we're struggling with the College admissions thing at present. She is also--can I be a proud father?--an excellent soprano. <br> <br>I am absolutely up for whatever musical reunion you cook up: still not especially good after all these years, but enthusiastic! <br> <br>Best <a href="mailto: regards, <br> <br>randlkeogh@optonline.net <br> <br>p.s. ">regards, <br> <br>randlkeogh@optonline.net <br> <br>p.s. </a> A few years ago, looking for a voice teacher, I located Irenen Seubert at North Babylon schools, who was as helpful and as warm a person as you undoubtedly remember