They say that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. For the School of Music at the 92nd Street Y, March has wrapped up to the powerful roar of 100 high school students in response to director Anthea Jackson’s announcement, “Welcome to our fourth annual High School Guitar Day!” At the recede of the thunder, all in the room moved to the edge of their seats, eager ears awaiting the start of this year’s opening concert, as faculty member David Veslocki took the stage to begin his first piece. A classical selection, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Praeludium and Presto.

High School Guitar Day is a free annual event that brings together teens from numerous schools in the NYC metro area. The fourth annual Guitar Day offered performances and workshops spanning a breadth of areas from Funk (Chris Bergson) to Flamenco (Dennis Koster) to Songwriting (Ann Klein and Allison Cornell), Classical (Benjamin Verdery) and, a popular new addition with Sound Recording (David Veslocki) in the school’s state of the art music technology lab. At a time when the opportunity to explore the world and your own sense of identity is so crucial, participants are called together to celebrate their passion for the guitar with like-minded individuals, and are exposed to genres perhaps lesser known and celebrated by the average 16 year old.

If you have ever had the joy of witnessing 100 guitarists rock out to Proud Mary at the same time, only then might you have an idea of the awesome spirit that is High School Guitar Day. In the words of a student at the closing concert, you may just “want to play guitar forever, and never stop.”

View more photos of the day over at our Facebook page.

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