Teacher at Rochester Prep by Day, Recording Artist by Night

By day, Judah Sealy teaches music to elementary school children at Rochester Prep.

By night, the 36-year old Rochester native records and produces music. His latest composition, Stylish, has been steadily rising on the Billboard Smooth Jazz New and Active Chart.

Most of his students don’t know or understand his other life as an up-and-coming smooth jazz saxophonist. They only know Mr. Sealy as the fun teacher who is passionate about music.

“I'm here to teach and I’m able to use the skills that I’ve learned as a musician and producer in the classroom,” Sealy said. “We were able to produce a music video a couple of years ago, even though it was really bad, the students had so much fun making it.”

Sealy was recently presented with a key to the City of Rochester by former Mayor Warren Lovely in recognition of his “outstanding and successful career as a renowned smooth jazz recording artist.

“Your extraordinary musical talent has entertained and delighted countless fans in the City of Rochester and across the city,” the mayor said. “May your musical journey continue to bring joy to audiences in our city, nation and all around the world.”

Sealy’s passion for music began while he was a middle and high school student at the School of the Arts in Rochester. But his interest in teaching didn’t begin until he was a student at Robert Wesleyan College in Rochester, where he was majoring in saxophone performance and was one of only three black students in the music department that focused heavily on classical music training.

Sealy said Professor Paul Shewan, who is now the interim chair and director of instrumental studies at Robert Wesleyan, encouraged him to think about becoming a teacher.

“He saw something in me that I didn't see,” Sealy said. “At the time, I didn’t want to be in a classroom. But Professor Shewan told me they need more people like you to be role models in the classroom. At the time, I didn’t understand what he meant. But I understand it now.”

Black men like Sealy comprise only 2% of the teachers in America, but their presence in the classroom has a positive impact for students of color. A 2017 working paper published by the Institute of Labor Economics found that low-income black students who have at least one black teacher in elementary school are significantly more likely to graduate high school and consider attending college.

After graduating from Robert Wesleyan, Sealy was hired at a small Christain school to replace a retiring music teacher.

“When I got there, I never taught at all. I figured it out with no supplies, no curriculum, no nothing,” he said. “I was finding my way and in finding my way, six years later, I transformed the whole music department.”

His work didn’t go unnoticed. Sealy said he received a call from a principal at Rochester Prep gauging his interest in making a move.

“She reached out to me,” he said. “Somebody told her about me. She said, ‘Our music teacher is leaving. Would you be interested in coming to Rochester Prep?’ I never heard of Rochester Prep.”

After looking into the charter school, Sealy realized this was the place where he belonged, where he knew he could make a significant impact in the lives of the mostly Black and Brown students who attend the school.

“It's important for our students to see someone like me in the classroom,” Sealy said. “I want to be a positive male influence in their lives because they may not have one.”

Outside the classroom, Sealy is a rising star in the world of smooth jazz. He released his first self-produced single “Lifted,” in 2014 and his first album, “The Arrival” a year later. His next album, “A Judah Sealy Christmas,” was released in December 2016.

Sealy released his third album, “Welcome Home,” in 2018. The album features the single “Turn it Up,” which received national airplay. During 2020, Sealy released a single, “Off the Charts,” which stayed on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Chart for two months. He also released his another album, “Legacy.”

Sealy said he was heavily influenced by Grammy-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum, who is best known for his memorable solo on Whitney Houston’s hit song “I Will Always Love You.”

“My first exposure to saxophone music was smooth jazz,” Sealy said. “My mom had the records and she would play that Whitney Houston album all the time. It was my first time hearing a saxophone over simpler music and it just captured my ear.”

While Sealy knows that most of his students will likely not pursue careers as musicians, he hopes to impart a love of music in each of them, the same way that his teachers did for him.

“When they see my love for music, I hope it’s contagious,” Sealy said. “Music is part of our lives, whether you are a musician or not. It impacts all our lives. It can change your life. I know it changed mine.”