A great day for rockin' out!

Last Saturday, the bands of Rock School and Rock School Jr. classes at the Patel Conservatory performed in front of a crowd of about 200 outside overlooking the river. It was a fabulous, sunny day on Tampa's Riverwalk, and the bands were awesome!

T.J. Couch on keyboards, with his band Broken Tom

“From the auditions, to the first day of practice and naming of the band, to the fine tuning of our songs as we led up to the performance, [instructor] Lee [Ahlin] was a talented professional through-and-through,” said T.J. Couch.

Couch is a member of the Straz Center’s Board of Trustees and the co-chair of the Straz Center’s Education Committee. A longtime piano player, he joined Rock School for the fun of playing with a band.

“The program was an extraordinary experience,” he said.

So whether you’re a kid, or a kid at heart, Rock School gets everyone jamming.

“It’s always different and exciting to go from playing an instrument by yourself in your home, to making music with other people and then performing it in front of a crowd,” said Wendy Leigh, the Straz Center’s director of education, who has also performed in Rock School.

Come see for yourself! Our next Rock School session starts the first week of June. Placement auditions for the summer program will be Sat., May 21 at 1 p.m. and Tues., May 24 at 6 p.m.

The auditions help instructors place students in a band according to their playing level. All levels are welcome, from beginners to advanced, and at the end of the class, you’ll be rocking out in concert!