Scarsdale Middle School’s Music Star Scores Honorable Mention in Statewide Contest

Scarsdale middle school student Sam Rosner hears music everywhere. Car horns, cell phones and even symphonies wake him from his dreams wake at night. What Sam has is a gift. And when he puts his talent to work, as he often does, it's a gift that gives back.

Rosner recently won honorable mention in the NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) music competition. It’s a statewide competition where students submit musical compositions and get critiqued by music professionals about their work. Honorable mention is certainly an impressive feat, more so when you consider that Sam has never had formal music theory lessons (that’s learning how to compose music). The music is all in Sam’s head and his talent is remarkable.

“I can hear a dog bark and tell you what note it is,” explains the Scarsdale 8th-grader nonchalantly, as if having perfect pitch- which he has- is something just a bit extra than normal. Sam’s sporting a blue t-shirt and jeans on a freezing Tuesday afternoon when I caught up with him after school. He also has a soft cast on his wrist thanks to a basketball injury. “The best part about this award is that professionals really look and critique my work. I love the feedback. It was actually sort of a surprise that I got that far in the competition. I sort of just entered to see what it was like,” explains Sam about the award.

Sam’s healthy sense of self, one that is well beyond his years, perhaps comes from his confidence in his natural ability and a big support system.

As Sam’s mother, Carol recalls, she first noticed his musical ability when he was a toddler. A day after a Passover Seder, 2-year-old Sam was able to sing all the songs from the service in Hebrew, and on pitch. At first she thought he had an amazing memory but soon she started to see that the talent and passion was the music. As a young child Sam showed a love of music, conducting symphonies using his favorite musical toys.

As Carol tells it, the real breakthrough came when Sam was in the second grade. That year, Dace Aperans, who is now a music teacher at Quaker Ridge, was filling in at Heathcote where Sam attended school. She noticed something in Sam’s singing voice and told his parents that he should try out for the Met.

A bit overwhelmed by the prospect of having her 7-year-old son jump right into the deep end and try out for the New York Metropolitan Opera, Carol Rosner had him try out for some local theater instead. Sam loved it. He loved singing and he thrived on stage. So, when he was 8 he tried out for the Met. His first performance was the following season, a solo no less, at age 9.

For over three years Sam sung at the Metropolitan Opera. He had solos in War and Peace, The Magic Flute, and the full-length German version, Die Zauberflöte. He also sang the role of the shepherd in Tosca and other solos at a number of Met Opera fundraisers. At the Metropolitan Opera, Samuel performed in Carmen, La Gioconda, La Damnation de Faust, Pagliacci, Hansel and Gretel, and Macbeth. Sam was also a featured singer at Madison Square Garden, and one of a small group of soloists at a Mets game at CitiField.

“It was exhilarating and exhausting,” says Carol of Sam’s time at the Met. “We wouldn’t get home some nights until after midnight and Sam would go to school the next day.” But seeing her son excel in this type of environment was exciting too.

When Sam was 13, he had his Bobby Brady moment and his voice changed. He could no longer sing like he used to and couldn’t complete his last season at the Met. I asked his mother if this change crushed Sam. She said that as a parent she was worried about him as well, but according to her, Sam was upset for a grand total of about one day. He then picked himself up and moved on.

Sam got very involved in singing groups. The cantor at his temple suggested that he join the international HaZamir choir which lead to performances at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Sam also sang the American and Israeli National Anthems at the Friends of the Israel Defense Force gala. Last summer he performed in Colorado at the Crested Butte Music Festival in the adult chorus of Carmen. He is currently studying voice with a member of the faculty at Julliard.

A great voice and perfect pitch is lucky, but it’s more than that with Sam. The music is always with him. If he isn’t singing, or playing piano (which he’s mostly self-taught) he’s writing it down. He says he gets up in the middle of the night because he needs to write music. He says he’s obsessed with music. He listens to a lot of classical music, but his interests range from rock to Jewish music. He started composing at 8 but this is his first award in composing.

Dace Aperans, who first recommended Sam to audition for the Met, is a composer in her own right. She has become a family friend and brought the NYSSMA contest to Sam’s attention.

With the support and sponsorship of the Middle School’s music department chair, Dr. Constance Shelengian, Sam composed an atonal Toccata he wrote for the piano. He has composed two orchestral works, and most recently, a liturgical, choral piece.

You’d probably expect with all these accolades, that Sam would be a bit of what they call in the music world, a ‘divo.’ Sam is the furthest thing from it. Friendly, outgoing and kind with lots of friends, Dr. Shelengian says that he supports the other kids in chorus to sing and try new things with their voices and doesn’t hog the spotlight.

“It’s a big boost for our program to have Sam. He has expanded our range and he’s really their rock and their leader. “

Sam also uses his talent to help others. Carol says her son loves doing charitable things as it relates to music, be it the FDIF work he’s been involved in or even singing in nursing homes.

I asked Sam about musicians he admires and he replied, “There are a lot of artists I love to listen to, but I want to be my own person when it comes to music.”

I don’t think that’ll be a problem for Sam.

Jen is a freelance journalist who has covered the economy and markets for over a decade at a major financial news outlet. She lives in Scarsdale with her husband and 2 children. Jen has yet to bake a successful batch of cookies.