WEST ORANGE, NJ — The seventh annual Musical Celebration and Tribute to Nikhil was held June 12 at Liberty Middle School, bringing community members together to showcase the wide range of musical talent shared by West Orange students and faculty.
The concert was a culmination of a year of practice and education through the Music for Nikhil program, which offers private music lessons from successful professional musicians at a reduced cost to West Orange middle and high school students. Music for Nikhil is a central component of the Nikhil Badlani Foundation, created in 2011 following the death of 11-year-old Nikhil Badlani, a bright student and talented trumpet player. Since 2012, the Music for Nikhil program has received more than $90,000 in funding for more than 1,800 hours of instruction for more than 130 students.
This year’s concert began with a solo piano performance by Nikhil’s brother, Anay Badlani, followed by opening remarks by Nikhil Badlani Foundation President Sangeeta Badlani, Nikhil and Anay’s mother, who thanked the community for their support and highlighted the foundation’s various accomplishments.
Performance introductions and humorous banter was provided by Divya Anand and Abigail Klausner, friends and classmates of Nikhil who have recently completed their first year of college at Johns Hopkins University and University of California, Berkeley, respectively. A number of other West Orange graduates from Class of 2017, Nikhil’s grade, returned to accompany several performers and assist with sound engineering, stage crew and ushering.
The program featured dozens of students who performed a diverse array of selections ranging from classical to contemporary on several instruments, including: trumpet, flute, French horn, saxophone, bassoon, trombone and vocals. Students were joined onstage by their Music for Nikhil instructors, who often accompanied them along with other guest performers.
A touching Tribute to Nikhil rounded out the night with “Forever Friends,” composed and conducted by Liberty Middle School band director Ryan Krewer, and performed by Music for Nikhil students, community members and West Orange school faculty. According to Krewer, the piece was written just days after Nikhil’s death in 2011, and was later recorded and performed by his classmates at Edison Middle School. Krewer decided to revisit the piece as a way to honor Nikhil’s memory and reflect the lasting bond of his classmates and the West Orange residents who continue his legacy. Afterward, all Music for Nikhil participants joined together in a grand finale performance of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
“Each group’s performance was outstanding,” Sangeeta Badlani said. “It is a joy to see the development in the skill level of these students year after year and to be able to share their talent with the community.”
She also praised the dedication of the program’s faculty and students, noting that the program “fosters creativity, discipline, confidence and team-building.”
“There’s strong community ties with the program, and it has really become an important, integral part of the community,” said Brad Madsen, a trombone instructor who has taught with Music for Nikhil for the past two years. “The community focus is what has drawn a lot of students in, in addition to getting high-quality teachers.”
Madsen marveled at how far his group of high school trombonists had progressed since he started teaching them. From shyness and apprehension in their first year, he said that they had developed a remarkable growth in confidence and enthusiasm for exploring new styles of music this year.
“Being able to work with students over a long period of time creates a continuity of growth that will help create fantastic musicians,” Madsen added, expressing his hopes for Music for Nikhil’s continued growth and success.
Beyond the Music for Nikhil program, the Nikhil Badlani Foundation continues to engage local communities in New Jersey through traffic-safety initiatives. During the past year, the foundation helped found the New Jersey Chapter of Families for Safe Streets, an organization that brings together families affected by traffic violence to advocate for safer streets to end traffic-related injuries and fatalities. They have also harnessed the creativity of local youth with the creation of traffic safety artwork, including 22 traffic safety murals from students at 17 New Jersey high schools, and PSAs that adorn NJ Transit buses, light rail and train stations.
In addition, the foundation recently awarded $18,000 to 14 graduating seniors through the Nikhil Badlani Scholarship, distributed annually to students who demonstrate strong academic performance and a passion for music and the arts.
The foundation’s next major event will be the eighth annual Stop for Nikhil Run/Walk, to be held Sunday, Sept. 16, at West Orange High School.
For more information about the Nikhil Badlani Foundation, visit www.nikhilbadlanifoundation.org.
Text Courtesy of Austin Bartola and Photos Courtesy of Sarah Kravits
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