The first New York City Guitar School community Zoom concerts of 2021 is taking place this Friday, February 26th, at 6:30 EST. The virtual concert will be happening to celebrate the release of the NYC Guitar School guitar book Songs For Beginners, and will be featuring performances not only by five of our staff teachers, but also by two current New York City Guitar School students! This event is open to everyone—all students and the general public. Come on out and join the NYC Guitar School community, interact with and support fellow musicians!

In the above video, Emily Shrader of New York City Guitar School, who is performing in the concert herself, chats with the two students performing on Friday, Naz Rahman and Nick Mannarino. They discuss their own musical journeys, their time with New York City Guitar School, what it’s like to learn through Zoom, New York City Guitar School’s drop-in classes, and more.

Nick

After having to play trombone in his elementary school band only to find that instrument wasn’t for him, Nick stayed away from music altogether for about a year or so after fulfilling his school’s music requirement. He thought he’d probably never try music again but when a friend of his in seventh grade began taking up the guitar, Nick thought that he might give music one more shot. Nick clicked with the guitar instantly as had been playing it ever since, and was even a member of his high school’s songwriting club. 

Although he began easing off the guitar as the pressures of adult life began to set in, Nick found his love for the instrument reinvigorated in the time leading up to the start of the pandemic. He found a group of like-minded musicians to jam with, started taking private lessons with Suke at the New York City Guitar School’s Queens location, and formed a classic rock cover band that played tunes from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, and Fleetwood Mac. The group performed around Sunnyside, Queens before having to take a break due to the closing of venues in the pandemic, but Nick looks forward to returning to performing live once things are safe again!

Naz

Naz’s first experience as a musician was playing the trumpet in the second grade and she later started vocals, singing in both school plays and chorus. She kept both up through high school, but ended up putting her music on the back-burner when she entered college. She later found herself regretting drifting away from her musical interests, and decades later she decided to something about it. In 2018, Naz bought herself a guitar and started taking a group class at the New York City Guitar School’s midtown location. She started with the school’s beginner oriented group classes before moving on to private guitar lessons with Eddy, and eventually added private vocal lessons with Emily to her schedule. 

 Naz describes her main goal on guitar as being able to entertain her family, friends, and herself. Singing and accompanying herself on her guitar is one of her favorite things to do nowadays, and it’s an activity she engages in just about every day. Although she performed quite a bit when she was younger, Naz’s first public performance in a while, over Zoom or otherwise, was a New York City Guitar School student showcase several months ago where she performed Robert Flack’s classic, “Killing Me Softly”. She’s excited to start performing more frequently again, and on Friday will be covering Eva Cassidy’s arrangement of Cyndi Lauper’s song “Time After Time”. 

You can see both Naz and Nick perform over Zoom on Friday, February 26th, as well as performances by our teachers Emily Shrader, Lenny Molotov, Kyle Tigges, Jaime Garamella, and Suke Cerulo. They’re all excited to perform, and we all hope you can make it! 

Not only will you see a ton of great performances, but you will also be entered to win a FREE Month of Online Guitar Classes on us!