Play at Cornwall’s Main Street Music School
The front room of the Main Street Music School in Cornwall is spacious. But it’s filled with musicians on Thursday morning. I try different locations. But no matter where I stand, it’s impossible to get a picture of the entire group. So I ask them to move to the corner of the room, which means they’ll have to stop playing.
There’s nothing unusual about men getting together to play music. But the Thursday morning group is not a band, or the nucleus of an orchestra. They have never performed together for an audience. But they have impressive music credentials.
Most of them have taught music. One has played for the West Point Jazz Knights and another is a member of the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra. Steve Kessler is playing trombone for the group. Cornwall residents will remember him from the annual tree lighting. He would lead the middle school band and entertain the crowd with a series of riddles that always got a laugh.
On Sept. 23, I was a one-person audience for the group. When I asked how they got together, they told me it happened gradually. After a Chamber of Commerce meeting, Joe Dvash stopped into the studio while the proprietor, Frank Rudolph, was playing a duet with Scott Chatfield, a 2014 Cornwall graduate. Before long, Mr. Dvash joined them on the keyboard.
From there, the ensemble grew one person at a time.
As someone was added to the group, they would usually think of someone else who would enjoy being there. It became a Thursday morning tradition. The group would play every week from 10 to 12.
When I wasn’t trying to photograph the musicians, I enjoyed listening to them. After playing what was written, they would improvise. They assured me that the next time I heard these songs, they might sound completely different.
Frank Rudolph is the host. Although his studio is named for Main Street, it’s located on Hudson Street in Cornwall-on-Hudson. He’s had a music school for a long time, and has noticed some interesting changes. Most of his students are now adults. He says that Baby Boomers just don’t want to retire.
After the last selection on Thursday morning, the musicians pack up their instruments and head home.
But a change has taken place. I wasn’t the only person who heard their sophisticated renditions.
Mayor Jim Gagliano stopped into the studio while the group was playing. “Next year we’ll be increasing the number of concerts at the gazebo,” he said. “It would be great if you guys could play at one of them.”
