School of Rock Montclair Student Selected for AllStars Band to Support Cancer Charity

“Alex is the first student from our Montclair school to be chosen for the AllStars, and he’s been selected to be part of the band for two years in a row,” says Matt Sandoski, owner of School of Rock Montclair. “He was one of hundreds of young musicians from around the United States to audition for the opportunity, and we’re thrilled that he made it – again!”

Scheitinger, from West Orange, was chosen to represent School of Rock Montclair as a member of the national School of Rock AllStars Band program, which has just completed a mini-tour of the East Coast in support of Love Hope Strength, an international music-centric cancer charity.

The AllStars’ tour included performances at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, and three shows at the Gathering of the Vibes festival in Bridgeport, CT. The concerts sought to create awareness for the Love Hope Strength’s efforts to build and support cancer centers around the world, boost awareness of global cancer needs, and expand international bone marrow databases.

“We have roughly 200 bone marrow drives scheduled this summer and are stretched thin with volunteers and resources,” says Shannon Foley, executive director of Love Hope Strength. “Teaming up with the School of Rock AllStars gave us the opportunity to be at more concerts and festivals than we ever could attend without them. Amazingly, in the three years that we’ve been working with the AllStars, we’ve found 12 bone marrow matches among School of Rock families and supporters – which could mean the difference between life and death for a patient with blood cancer.”

Alex auditioned for the AllStars in January and was notified in April that he was selected to be part of the band. His fellow members, which included 24 School of Rock students from 12 schools in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, assembled on July 27 for rehearsals in Woodland Park, NJ and began the five day tour on July 30.

“The experience was one I’ll never forget,” says Alex, who played guitar, bass, trombone, and sang on the tour. “It felt amazing to play with awesome musicians who became close friends and really cared about putting on good shows at cool venues to help an important cause.”