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The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg (FMDG) Music School (The Fil) lives its mission daily.
Empowering individuals of all ages to pursue their interest, and study of music, while addressing the challenges posed by vision loss.
| | 24th Fil at the Met Concert | | |
On April 26 The Fil performed a beautiful concert for an audience of 550 people at the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This marks the 24th concert presented in collaboration with the Met. Each year there is a theme for the concert and artwork and music are chosen to enliven the theme. This year's theme was a celebration of influential women in the arts.
The artwork is made accessible for our students, thanks to museum visits and creative programing led by the Met's Access Team in advance of the concert. During the concert, verbal descriptions bring the images to life for everyone.
Students, faculty, and staff worked diligently and dedicated many hours to prepare for this year's concert, which resulted in a performance of which everyone was very proud. You can watch a recording of the concert on the Met's YouTube Channel.
Check out a fun one-minute sizzle real about the concert here!
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The history of FMDG Music School is based upon influential women in the arts, the most recent of whom are Executive Director Dr. Leslie Jones and Director of Music Studies Dr. Dalia Sakas. After 30 years of thoughtful, creative, and strong leadership, Leslie and Dalia will be retiring from their leadership positions this summer. They were honored at the concert with a special presentation made by adult chorus member and Junior Advisory Board representative Milica Milic.
Concert photos can be found on the Gallery page of our website. Please click here.
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The 19th Annual Performathon on March 15th
was a fantastic success!
Thanks to our talented and well-prepared performers, intrepid student fundraisers, and hundreds of very generous donors, we exceeded our fundraising goal and raised over $23,000!
The afternoon event was filled with inspiring musical numbers performed by kids, teens, and adult students. Supporters watched in-person at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan and online from around the world. Donations came in from 21 states, Ecuador, Australia, Germany, and England!
| | Making Music for the World | | |
Adult piano student Logan Riman performed at the cocktail reception for the 2025 American Foundation for the Blind's Helen Keller Achievement Awards held at the New York Yacht Club on April 24.
This year's honorees
included toy maker, Mattel, who released a blind Barbie doll in 2024, and Andrew Leland, author of the book The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight.
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On the same day FMDG students and faculty provided the musical program for the Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey spring fundraiser held at The Mansion at Mountain Lakes, NJ.
Matthew Hererra, Iolanta Mamatkazina and Maya Graves sang beautifully, accompanied on the piano by Cyrus von Hochstetter. Yo Kano played light jazz for attendees as they arrived at the event.
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FMDG Music School voice teacher and staff member Michelle Trovato made her debut at Carnegie Hall!
On April 11, Michelle was the soprano soloist with The Choral Society and Orchestra of Grace Church in New York in a performance of Verdi's Messa da Requiem.
A large group of FMDG Music School students, faculty, and staff attended the beautiful performance and were proud to be her fans! A strong review was published the next day in the New York Classical Review:
"Trovato had impressive power and fullness to her voice to carry through all the musicians behind her. The concluding Libera me was terrific, with Trovato singing with palpable expression and a beautiful sound."— George Grella
| | The Fil has been extremely fortunate to have many committed and longstanding faculty members. Two of them have even been with the school for over 50 years and one for 30! | | Charlotte Surkin has been a voice instructor since 1995, where she has coached countless FMDG Music School singers. She is also an adjunct professor at Marymount Manhattan College. Charlotte has done extensive study with medical professionals on voice production. | | Katharine Flanders has taught flute, recorder, theory, and piano since 1974. She also accompanied the youth chorus, taught in the youth program, and later joined the adult chorus, which she continues to sing with today. She is a prominent member and principal flutist with The Riverside Orchestra. | | John Sanfilippo began volunteering in 1974 and took a faculty position in 1976. He is the guru of braille music and the wizard of accessible music technology. He has sung with the adult chorus for as long as he's been with FMDG! John is also a longtime member of The Lance Hayward Singers. | | Our whole faculty is accomplished, dedicated, fun and kind! Learn more about them here. | | |
Adult piano student Sami Osborne will be graduating this month from New York University with a master's degree in language translation and interpreting!
He will be delivering the student speaker address as the program's first ever blind graduate.
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Youth student Iolanta Mamatkazina was on Fox 5 TV News!
Iolanta was featured in a segment on the "Good Day New York" program. She had the opportunity to sing on the show and was interviewed by the hosts.
Watch the segment here.
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The FMDG Music School was invited to The Juilliard School on March 19 to participate in Diversity Dialogue: Accessibility in Music, an event presented by Student Diversity Issues in collaboration with the Office of Academic Support.
FMDG staff offered visitors experiential interactions with braille music and tactile diagrams. Matthew Whitaker, FMDG Music School and Juilliard alumnus, joined the table, and also spoke in a panel discussion about accessibility issues as a performer.
We're proud to be out in the community sharing our expertise!
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Did you know that we have a new "Media" tab on our website?
This tab includes a large photo gallery, a collection of press that FMDG Music School has received over the years, and a sample of videos from concerts and events. Check it out here!
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We sincerely appreciate your support and friendship.
Thank you for being a Friend of the Fil!
Visit our website at fmdgmusicschool.org
Donations are always needed and valued!
You can make a tax deductible donation here.
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