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Dedicated to the Hoboken Public School District’s Music Program.

The Great Academy is an overture piece composed in memory of my teaching experience in the Hoboken Public School District in Hoboken, NJ. The composition starts with a fanfare and a middle story-like section, with a main theme that imitates the vibrant and diverse urban environment of a urban schools. And then the main theme returns in a more triumphant manner, closing with the powerful fanfare. My time in the Hoboken public schools as an instrumental music teacher taught me valuable lessons about the importance of building relationships and connecting with students and teacher with a willingness to power through struggles. I learned so much about myself as a teacher and the things that I need to work on. It was only fitting that I dedicated this piece to those lessons and to the kids and staff who taught me.