Students weaved around dew-covered chairs and tables on the terrace, past the well-loved vending machine, and up the staircase, towards Instrumental Music Teacher Mr. Robert Anderson’s classroom down the hall. Inside, a group of five students — Adam Shteremberg (‘32), Clara Stone (‘30), Roger Sun (‘31), Elle Ritter (‘32), and Eva Xie (‘30) — rocked the room, packed full of audience members, with rock-pop classics.
During the winter trimester, these five students participated in Bishop’s Rocks, an X-period class that middle schoolers can elect to take during their regular trimester rotations, where students learn to play instruments together in a band. Their final showcase was held on February 11th at 2:40 pm, open to the entire Bishop’s community to watch.
Students received an email from Adam and Emerson TenBroeck (‘32) on Tuesday afternoon, one day before their concert. “I emailed all the faculty and administrators, but I didn’t email any students. I didn’t know, but I think that’s amazing that he did that,” Mr. Anderson said. “He had some pride in what he was presenting — in the best sense of the word ‘pride.’ You know, he had worked hard, and he wanted to share that with his friends. That’s not always the case with kids.”
The Bishop’s Rocks students played three songs for their audience, in the order that they learned them: “Island in the Sun” by Weezer, “Save Your Tears” by Ariana Grande and The Weeknd, and “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” by Tears for Fears.
“Normally, when we do these, there’s, like, two adults watching. And then there were, like, 26 kids. It was nice to see that people care,” said Clara, who played the bass and sang. She also added, “[Bishop’s Rocks is] just an amazing way to learn new instruments. Roger had never played guitar before he came into the trimester, and now he’s kind of amazing. You can learn an instrument even if you don’t know anything, and it’s a really fun way to practice.”
Roger, who confirmed that he had never picked up a guitar before Bishop’s Rocks, actually played a guitar solo during “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” — which was the majority’s favorite song to perform, despite its technical difficulty. Learning to play this song as a newcomer came with challenges. “Bar chords are when your index finger goes over all 6 strings, and you have to use a lot of power on your finger,” Roger explained. “I wasn’t really used to that, even though I played the violin.”
Adam added, “I always wanted to learn the guitar, and I felt like this would just help more, because you’ve got to play a lot, and at the end you get to play a fun concert, and you just get to learn new songs.” He was also proud of his own solo in “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” saying, “It was much faster than anything I’ve ever played. I put a pretty decent amount of work into it.”
“We spent so much time on it, and it ended up sounding really good,” Clara explained, pride gleaming in her eyes.
Unknown to onlookers, the students were actually missing a band member, who was supposed to sing for all three songs. “I think he may have been sick or something. But we were surprised. We didn’t know he wasn’t going to be here,” Mr. Anderson said. “So the bass player, Clara, and the electric guitar player, Adam, were like, ‘Okay, we’ll just sing.’ The way they adjusted in that moment with confidence — they knew the lyrics, even though they were playing an instrumental part.”
Adam, who was not expecting that large of an audience, said, “It was really nerve-wracking. I was shaking throughout half the performance.” His mother, Mrs. Perla Shteremberg (Raquel ‘28 and Adam ‘32), was watching that afternoon. “I’ve never seen this whole new side of him before. He was singing and playing the guitar at the same time, and he seemed to be enjoying it. It was special to watch,” she remarked.
For the students, this performance was not only a show of their resilience, or just a jam session for their favorite songs — Bishop’s Rocks had created new bonds and learned experiences that were apparent throughout their concert.
Playing instruments together rather than separately was a new experience for Adam. “I didn’t have to imagine that there was a piano playing in the background. I didn’t have to imagine the beat because it was actually all there,” he explained.
For Roger, the music they created served as a pathway for connection. “I didn’t know any [others] except for Eva and Clara,” Roger said. “It was fun to meet new people, and I also played with instruments that I don’t usually play with, like the bass.”
Clara agreed, saying, “It’s like a family. We all come in and the first part of class — when we’re tuning and everything — is basically just laughing at each other, making jokes in the best way possible, and nobody’s ever judging anybody if you make mistakes.”
“I’m just really proud of their presence and their confidence. That’s a big part of it. You might sing well, but if you don’t have confidence and enjoy the music and perform with joy, you’re not gonna connect with an audience, no matter what,” Mr. Anderson concluded. “They did a great job of that today.”
Bishop’s Rocks will return as a class in the spring trimester — and until then, we’ll see what these rockstars have in store.
