ROBBINSVILLE: Teen donates time, talent to global cancer foundation

By Joanne Degnan, Managing Editor
   ROBBINSVILLE — Downloaded music can be uplifting — especially when it’s for a good cause.
   Karaline Rosen, a 14-year-old Robbinsville High School freshman, and her bandmates from the Princeton and Philadelphia Schools of Rock recently recorded their rendition of “Love Hope Strength” written by Mike Peters of The Alarm, and every time the song is downloaded it earns money for a global cancer charity.
   ”Helping people with cancer by doing something I love to do, like recording music, was a great experience,” Karaline said last week. “I’m glad that I had this opportunity because it is for a good cause.”
   The teenagers participated in a three-day recording workshop last month that was part of the Download Challenge for Charity, which benefits the Love Hope Strength cancer foundation. Seventeen Schools of Rock are vying to raise the most money for the LHSF, which uses donations to build cancer centers and international bone marrow databases.
   The recording session was a joint venture of the Philadelphia and Princeton Schools of Rock. Their rendition of the rock song can be downloaded from the Love Hope Strength foundation’s website for 99 cents, and all proceeds support the foundation’s work.
   The six young New Jersey and Philadelphia musicians spent 15 hours over three days learning and recording the song under the direction of Greg Altman, who was responsible for all of the recording, producing, engineering, and mixing. In addition to Karaline on vocals, the band included fellow Princeton School of Rock student Ben Fortunato (guitar) and Philadelphia students Mike Bailer (vocals), Max Perlmutter (bass), Ric Haas (guitar), and Tristan Walker (drums).
   Their song can be downloaded until Jan. 3, 2012 by going online to http://lovehopestrength.org/event/current-event/schoolofrock. Be sure to click on the Philadelphia School of Rock’s version of the song because the School of Rock location that registers the most downloads wins a “guest professor” event with Mr. Peters, a member of the Welsh rock band, The Alarm. Mr. Peters is also a leukemia survivor and a co-founder of LHSF.
   Karaline, who has been a student at the Princeton School of Rock since July of 2007, calls it her “home away from home.” Over the past four years, Karaline has performed in over 100 concerts with the School of Rock as a student and member of their Z-Team, the local all-star team.
   Some of the events she has supported also include The Christina Walsh Breast Cancer Foundation, The Cranberry Festival, The Union County Music Festival, Live-Aid Remade, and other charitable and non-charitable causes. She has also been involved in productions of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as Janet, and in Jesus Christ Superstar as King Herod.
   At Robbinsville High School, Karaline is an honor student and member of the RHS chorus, band and drama club. She is currently preparing for performances of “Disney’s Camp Rock,” a musical at the Kelsey Theatre at Mercer County Community College that opens in February.
   For more information about the Love Hope Strength Foundation, go to http://lovehopestrength.org.
   For more information about the Princeton School of Rock, go to www.SchoolofRock.com.