One element that makes Piscataway High School stand out is how much our school encourages and supports students’ creative expression. On Friday, March 28th, artists and art enjoyers alike attended the PHS’s annual Coffee House, which was held in the Anthony commons from 7-9PM.
A “Coffee House”, is a social event that promotes fundraisers, cultural expression, and artistic performances. Hosted and run by PHS choir members, students from the school auditioned and practiced reciting their poems, performing their self-composed songs, or singing already popular songs. Covering popular artists such as Billie Eilish, Laufey, and Rosé, alongside performing tracks from the musical Wicked, this event created a community where everyone could enjoy student artistic expression.
“I found it really heartwarming to be surrounded by people so passionate about music,” said Gabrielle Petit-Homme, a student and visual artist at PHS. Many other people felt the same–looking throughout the audience, one could see someone tapping their foot, mouthing the lyrics, or simply smiling, enjoying both the atmosphere and the performances.
Halfway through the night, host Josiah Chambers mentioned that it was Rebekah Sterlacci’s birthday. Sterlacci, who is the Supervisor of Visual and Performing Arts at Piscataway schools, was happily surprised as everyone started to sing her “Happy Birthday”. As I could hear everyone, both members of the choir and not, wishing her a happy birthday, I was again struck by the wonderful community atmosphere that had been created that night.
After her performance, PHS sophomore Sanjana Ezhuthassan described that she spent weeks preparing for her cover of the song “Copacabana”. “It [preparing] was fun. I would listen to the karaoke track during classes like gym and audiate the song in my head……[and] would listen to the instrumental and search for cues on where to start and stop singing”. While the performance itself was “stressful” and Ezhuthassan noticed that in some areas she was “off key”, she “got through it”, realizing that she was “much more confident than [she] thought [she] would have been”. She looks forward to auditioning next year, similar to PHS junior Sydney Hain.
Hain described that it was her “third time performing” at the event and that “it gets better every year”. Commenting on the theme, “Bloom and Brew”, Hain admitted that “Janai’s [the student who was in charge of decorations] vision for a cute café atmosphere worked out really well and made for some amazing decorations”.
As all the performers gathered together to sing one final song, “Apple Tree” by Norwegian singer-songwriter AURORA, PHS choir director Megan Suzzo reminded us how the song is a “message of hope for the future”, and that we should be “hopeful” by the end of the evening.
Truthfully, I was saddened to let the night go. As an artist myself, I felt an abundance of creativity in the air. I am not sure if it was from the poems read, songs sung, or the refreshments shared, but I am sure that the community that was made was stronger than any brew.
