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A tuneful group of kindergartners from area schools recently gathered on campus for the first-ever NJCU Kindergarten Music Festival.

The event, hosted February 8 by the NJCU Chapter of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), culminated with the young singers giving their own rendition of the “Baby Beluga” song after a fun afternoon of watching performances and learning about music.

The NAfME’s mission is “to advance music education by promoting the understanding and making of music by all,” according to the group’s website.

“Our primary focus with the NJCU NAfME chapter is outreach to high schools but we wanted to make sure we were serving all age groups in our community; so, the Chapter created this event specifically for Kindergarten students,” explained Dr. Joseph d’Auguste, NJCU Chapter Co-Advisor and Coordinator of Woodwind Studies at the University. 

Marc G. Dalio, Coordinator of Musical Theatre Studies and Assistant Professor of Voice, was the event clinician and worked with all the students. “His energetic and incredibly engaging approach to teaching music kept the students attentive and focused. One of the Kindergarten students informed us it was ‘the best day ever,’” d’Auguste said.

The festival served two purposes, explained d’Auguste. “Our guests get to work with a master performer and educator (Professor Dalio) and our Music Education majors get to observe and take away ideas they will use with their own students in the future. 

“It was really wonderful to see students from different schools coming together to sing.” 

Brittney Crawford ’18, a music education major and president of the NJCU NAFME Chapter, performed songs from “Aladdin,” along with her Professor, Todd Groves, a member of the NJCU Multiple Woodwind Faculty, as well as the Aladdin Orchestra on Broadway.)

In addition, Dalio and Jenna Rose, a graduate of the Musical Theatre program at NJCU, performed songs from “Frozen” and “Moana”.  

The festival was attended by Supervisors of Arts from Jersey City and West New York public schools, along with teachers and parents from Roselle and Jersey City Schools.