I want to share with my readers the wonderful experience I had over the last couple of months putting the public spotlight on some great young student singers from the Northern New Jersey area. I am involved in a
French Restaurant in
Montclair called
Epernay. I wanted to find a way to give young students the opportunity to get some experience performing in a small, intimate, public setting. At the same time, give our customers something special and exciting to listen to that would add to their dining experience. So we established the Tuesday night
"Epernay Supper Club Series".
It took a long time to find the right students and put together a plan to have the students sing a song every 5 to 10 minutes during the (3 hour) prime dining hours. The purpose was to spotlight the student singers while the customers enjoyed their dinner. The experiment has proven to be an outstanding success for all involved.
Epernay was very lucky to have two wonderful students star in the opening of the "
Epernay Supper Club Series".
Our first student singer was Joe Longthorne who lives in
Essex Fells, NJ and is currently a student at
"The Boston Conservatory Of Music". Joe did 4 performances at
Epernay and each one got rave reviews from our customers. We hope to have Joe again when he is back home on school vacations.
Our second student is a music major Freshman at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ. His name is Michael Robinson and it was thrilling to listen to this young man sing not only songs from the Great American Songbook but also do several great Broadway show songs. Michael performed for 4 Tuesdays and did an outstanding job. We intend to bring Michael back whenever his busy school schedule allows.
Michael Robinson
The management at Epernay is fully committed to providing an opportunity for young music students to get experience performing before a real live audience and are planning to continue our Supper Club Series in the future. It is exciting to find talented young people who have learned to love and sing songs from the "Great American Songbook".
I know all my readers love to listen to all kinds of music as I do. We listen to great sounds on our ipods, our radios and our CDs. But as good as these sources are, there is nothing that will ever replace the emotional thrill of listening to live music. Let's all do what we can to support live performances so they will continue to be an important part of our lives. Epernay is looking for other talented students who would like the opportunity to perform for a very appreciative live audience. If you know anyone please let me know.
