LBHS guitar concert strikes sweet cords

Students in the Long Beach High School Guitar program presented a creative feast for the ears and eyes at their annual Guitar Concert. The performers showed the depth of their repertoires with a three-hour 25-act performance, featuring an eclectic mix of current hits, rock standards and classical selections. To keep the show moving during set changes, the artists screened original video shorts that they had created for the occasion. Classmates from other music classes joined them as guest vocalists, percussionists, keyboard artists and horn players.

Many of the performers acknowledged that they had never even picked up a guitar before this year, learning everything they know about picking and strumming in an elective guitar class taught by Andy Rossi, who first introduced the guitar program at Long Beach High School eight years ago. Since then it has grown from one class of 12 students to over 50 participants. No experience is necessary — only the desire to learn how to play and perform on the guitar.

Long Beach is one of only a handful of schools on Long Island that offers a guitar class as part of its arts curriculum, and the only program in which students present a multi-act stage show at the end of the year.