Woodmere Music Studios is celebrating its 25th anniversary with senior recitals at the Lynbrook Public Library.
The music school provides group and private instruction to students of all ages from beginner to advanced.
It all started with Director Patricia Lee’s passion for music. The Woodmere resident has taught students from the Five Towns, Jericho, Manhattan and in-between.
Lee studied under Norman Horowitz from Stecher and Horowitz — pianists who ran a school in Cedarhurst — and was considered one of their protégés. She went on to study piano performance at Northwestern University and received her master’s degree in piano performance and music theory at the Manhattan School of Music.
While earning her master’s, she taught at Stecher and Horowitz and worked there for eight years.
“They were moving on and they closed their school and started a foundation in the city to run an international piano competition,” Lee said. “At that point, that’s when Woodmere Music Studios started.”
As a young professional, she took her experience with them and made it her own.
“I started it because I thought there was a community need for it and of course it was always a personal dream of mine,” Lee added. “I had great tutelage and I was able to continue this great music environment for the Five Towns.”
Lee has made a community impact by helping students learn challenging music and overcome fears and create goals for themselves.
“One of our specialties is setting up special performance for the students which help them set goals and the feeling of accomplishment,” Lee said.
Hewlett High School seniors Lucas Giordano and Krista Lee were showcased at the first of two anniversary Senior Recital celebrations at the Lynbrook Public Library, on March 16.
Giordano has been playing the double bass for 10 years and performs all across Long Island and New York City. He has been a student at Woodmere Music Studios for five years.
“It’s been great, I love my teacher and he’s taught me so much of what I know and has a plethora of knowledge,” Giordano said.
For the featured performance, he played “Concerto Barocco” by Giovanni Balanchine and “Cello Suite No. 1” by Johann Sebastian Bach.
“It was a momentous occasion because that’s the way music has been brought to us for so long in the community,” Giordano said.
Being Lee’s daughter, Krista has been surrounded by music her whole life and has been an official viola student for 12 years.
“My passion began very early one, I have always been surrounded by music growing up and have embraced it,” Lee wrote in an email. “Some of my earliest memories are here, taking lessons or doing homework while music fills the studio.”
For her featured pieces, she performed “Viola Concerto B Minor, 1st Movement” by Frideric Handel and Henri Casadesus and “Cello Suite No. 3, C Major” by Johann Sebastian Bach.
“Woodmere has always been more than just a music school, it’s my second home,” Lee wrote. “The teachers here have watched and supported me through triumphs and struggles and have always encouraged me to keep striving for excellence.”
Lee will be following in her mother’s footsteps and study Music Education at Northwester’s Bienen School of Music.
“I am very grateful for the guidance, lessons and the gift of music that Woodmere has provided,” Krista wrote.
The second anniversary performance will feature Ariel River on June 14 at 2:30 p.m., at the Lynbrook Public Library. This is a free event.
