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Jewish Community News
News: June 2007
Rocking out with Kehillah Jewish High School
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| Two Kehillah teens practice their vocals at the Greg Kihn radio studio just before an on-air performance. |
By Janet Marcelo
The sun is not even up yet and a group of Kehillah Jewish High School parents are gathered at the Greg Kihn morning show radio station frantically snapping pictures.
“I don’t even know if I’m getting anything,” one parent complains to herself in frustration.
The attraction? Ten teenage musicians from Kehillah’s “Jam Band” preparing for their first live on-air performance on 98.5 KFOX. The live performance, broadcast to 236,900 listeners throughout the Bay Area, was awarded when “The Jam Band” placed as one of nine finalists in KFOX’s “School of Rock 2007,” an American-ido-style competition where community members voted on their favorite bands.
In addition to Kehillah, bands from Castillero Middle School and Abraham Lincoln High School placed in the finals. The winning bands earned their school’s music department a $3,000 donation, and a chance to perform live on KFOX’s Greg Kihn Show.
Kehillah’s Jam Band is made up of musicians Brian Batraski, Jeff Cohn, Shani Cohen, Chanoch (Gidi) Gidron, Angelica Kamen, Patrick Nack-Lehman, Brad Lent, Hannah Lent, Aryeh Lewis and Emily Murakami under the direction of Tom Romero.
Members of the Jam Band timidly take sips from their water bottles and nervously thumb out keys, notes and chords on their varied instruments. Kihn teases the kids that “there’s only millions of people listening and even more watching online, but that shouldn’t bother them.”
The well known radio personality also compliments the kids on their instruments, from the Les Paul to the Gibson Firebird guitars.
Soon the count down begins. Kihn introduces “Tequila, Opps – I mean Kehillah Jewish High School” as they play their first song, “Help” by the Beatles.
There is no hesitation. The Jam Band quickly moves into the song, sounding far more experienced than a nervous group of teens in their first on-air performance.
The Jam Band is a music class offered at Kehillah Jewish High School. Music director Tom Romero heard about the School of Rock Competition and encouraged his Jam Band class to take a shot at it.
“It sounded like a good opportunity to get known in the area. I was excited for it – what did we have to lose,” said sophomore Shani Cohen, a keyboardist, drummer and singer.
The announcement that Kehillah’s Jam Band placed in the finals was made during an all-school assembly. Students started screaming, and running to the band members, and giving high-fives and hugs.
As for what’s next for the band, they are learning more songs, getting better and hoping to enter more contests in the future according to Batraski.
“It is such a young program it could really go anywhere,” Nack-Lehman said. “We will definitely be defending our title as KFOX School or Rock winners.”
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