Tagged: music

Music usually takes years to master through practice and study. But Andrew Willoughby claims he learned it all overnight – literally.

Now the Rochester resident is trying to help others do the same.

It's 4 p.m. on a Thursday. And instead of sitting in front of office computer screens, a group of employees from M5 Networks is in the middle of band practice.

The ragtag four-piece - crammed into rented jam space in Rochester's High Falls district - is banging out Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" as an instructor from the Hochstein School of Music looks on.

The banter is friendly, the thud of the kick drum is heavy, and the song is surprisingly well played.

There's only one rule for the M5 workers: you can't play an instrument you already know how to play.

The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra (SSO) had planned to celebrate its 50th season this year. But by June it was facing millions of dollars in debt, and was forced to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. 

The SSO relinquished its assets, with its biggest lender, M & T Bank, collecting two pianos and a collection of sheet music worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But today there was a single ray of hope for the troubled - or perhaps more realistically, defunct - orchestra.