Verona, Cedar Grove Students Perform in Metal Fest

Three Cedar Grove and one Verona student are among more than 100 students from nine School of Rock franchises in New York and New Jersey who will perform Saturday in a concert called “Metal Fest:  Are You Metal Enough?” at the Gramercy Theater in New York City.

Cedar Grove teens Evva and Adrian Bachvaroff and Sean Louis, as well as Verona teen David Ben-Israel, will join rockers as young as 7 through 17 years old, performing two heavy metal songs of their choosing to play at the event.

In addition to being a concert, the show will also be a competition:  the winning musicians will be awarded a free week at Mayhem In The Mountains, a week-long metal camp in the Catskills that will be held Aug. 19 through Aug. 25.

“The level of musicianship of the students who participate in School of Rock’s unique performance-based music education programs across the country is exceptional, and it will be interesting to see whose skills among the New York and New Jersey schools are the ‘awesome-est’,” said Matt Sandoski, owner of School of Rock Montclair.

“I love the energy of heavy metal,” Ben-Israel, 12, said. “The distorted guitars and the rapid fire drums get me totally energized, and I can't wait to hit the stage with my band at Metalfest.”

Music will include anthems from groups such as Metallica, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Queens of the Stone Age and System of a Down.

Fourteen student musicians will represent School of Rock Montclair at Metalfest.

Judging “Metal Fest” will be Metal Mike, a graduate of the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston. Mike has recorded and toured the world with former Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford as well as metal superstar Sebastian Bach, and was also a cast member of Fuse TV’s weekly series “Talking Metal On Fuse.”

“These kids will be bringing their most impressive licks and their hottest headbanging energy to the show because they all want to win that week at Mayhem In The Mountains,” says Metal Mike. “It’s quite a prize, so the level of playing and showmanship at this competition will be exceptionally fierce.”

Tickets for “Metal Fest” are $19, and can be purchased at LiveNation.com or at the Gramercy Theater, 127 E. 23rd St., on Saturday. Doors open at 11 a.m. The show begins at noon.