BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
Former students of music teacher Steven Gosewisch will honor his memory and impact on their lives when they play in the Steven Gosewisch Memorial Scholarship Concert at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 in the newly renovated auditorium at Howell High School, Squankum-Yellowbrook Road.
Gosewisch died suddenly on Jan. 12, 2006, at home in Long Branch. He taught music in the Freehold Regional High School District’s Fine and Performing Arts Center at Howell and served the school and the community for 30 years.
According to Joseph Cantaffa, Howell’s entertainment technology instructor, a ceremony will be held at the beginning of the event to dedicate and name the auditorium in honor of Gosewisch. The concert will begin immediately after the dedication ceremony.
Cantaffa said Gosewisch was his music teacher in high school. He said Gosewisch had always been a great inspiration to him.
“He was my teacher, then my colleague, then my friend,” Cantaffa said.
Gosewisch was named Howell’s Teacher of the Year in 1992 and was the chorus director known for his participation in many spring musicals at the school.
Gosewisch was the associate conductor for the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra, a member of the American Choral Directors Association and the New Jersey Music Educators Association. He was a member of the Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea and was selected as the conductor for the New Jersey All-State Chorus for 2006.
Alumni will come together on Jan. 13 to honor a person who influenced their lives and careers, said Ilse Whisner, the FRHSD’s public information officer.
Alumni who will perform at the concert include Kristin Piro, who currently plays the lead in the national and Las Vegas tour of “Saturday Night Fever.”
Mary Nosuchinsky, a nationally recognized tap dance performer and instructor, has choreographed a dance piece, which she will perform with students in the program.
Michael McArthur, Justine Capria and Sarah Kay will perform a dance piece with dance instructor Lisa Twamley. McArthur is a dancer with Norwegian Cruise Line. Kay is the lead dancer at the Tropicana Hotel, Atlantic City, and an award-winning dancer and choreographer. Capria is a student at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Amy Polumbo, who has played the lead role of Ariel in the Disney World production of “The Little Mermaid,” will sing “Vanilla Ice Cream.”
Brother and sister Gretchen and Zachary Palamyra will team up to entertain guests. Gretchen, a piano technician for Steinway and Sons, New York City, will accompany her brother, who performs with the Louisville Theater Professionals Acting Troupe.
Representatives of the organizations that were a large part of Gosewisch’s musical life will also be represented by performing at the concert.
Members of the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra and the directors of the All-Shore Chorus, a choral group comprised of directors of all the high school choruses in the shore region, will perform in honor of the late educator.
Tickets for the memorial concert are $20 for adults and $10 for children. All proceeds will be donated to a scholarship fund that has been established in Gosewisch’s name. Cantaffa said the scholarship will be given to students who are planning to attend college and major in the arts.
Contributions in memory of Gosewisch may be made to Howell High School Gosewisch Scholarship, 405 Squankum-Yellowbrook Road, Howell, 07731.