Chester Student Named Outstanding Musician In Morris County

CHESTER, N.J. – Maximus Cresti is an outstanding orchestra musician.

Don’t take our word for it, that’s the Mayo Performing Arts Center deeming him as such.

Cresti, a seventh-grader at the Black River Middle School in Chester, was honored in February as an outstanding orchestra student of the month, accompanied by 10 other Morris County students.

Cresti was nominated by teacher Kenneth Piascik, who said:

Percussion is a very special and challenging section of the band. The students need to be organized, motivated, disciplined, rhythmic, and they must perform many different instruments. The best percussionists have all these qualities and help lead the band to the next level. Maximus is one of these great percussionists! He arrives early in the mornings to practice the marimba, work on his rudiments, or advance in the Theory program. He is also a “mentor” in our 6th grade band program where he helps the younger students understand percussion techniques and procedures while I conduct the rehearsal. Mr. Cresti wants to be challenged and continues to inspire the other percussionists in our music program. We are all very fortunate to have Maximus Cresti at Black River Middle School!

Pictured: Back row: Elizabeth Broder (Mount Olive Middle School), Leslie Chan (Copeland Middle School), Kyle DeCotiis (Jefferson Township High School), Posey Durling (The Peck School), Clara Gong (Morristown High School). Front Row: John Greco (John Hill School), June Sirna (Madison Junior School), Nicholas Vitebsky (Mountain View School), Anna Zagoren (Chatham High School). Not pictured: Leslie Chang, Daniel Wang.

Photo Courtesy: Mayo PAC