NPHS music taste impacts generations
It is the evening of Dec. 15, 1976 in Buffalo, New York. Kiss is playing at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium surrounded by thousands of fans for a night of Rock n’ Roll to recount the band’s debut album that was released only two years prior. Managing to bring people together for a single night is no easy feat, but that is exactly what music can do no matter how different it has become.
Richard Napora, NPHS guidance counselor, was just a middle schooler the night of that memorable concert. Now, he plays the guitar and has a menagerie of 90s band posters plastered along the walls of his room. “It is such a huge venue, and you are surrounded by thousands of other people that have interest in the same band and you are just awestruck,” Napora said. “[I had] feelings mixed with joy and awe and admiration, because I’d only known about Kiss from listening to the record.”
Music not only fills stadiums, but phases of life. Napora’s transition into high school from middle school came with a change in taste. “[The music I listened to, I] was hearing around me, and that’s contingent around who you hang out with,” Napora said. “I knew what I knew and that was pretty much it, and when I left that point of my life and I went into the military, suddenly I was surrounded by people from other places that listened to country […] or people who came from the south that listened to jazz.”
Amelia Abram, sophomore, has been to three concerts. Her first was at the Hollywood Palladium to see the indie pop band, TV Girl. “I don’t believe you should record an entire concert […] The whole music experience is really to live in the moment and absorb the poetry and emotions” Abram said. “[The venue] was really fun. Everyone was in the moment, which I really appreciated at that concert.”
Just like Napora, Abram has learned to appreciate all kinds of music. From Led Zeppelin to The Smiths, she finds meaning in every genre. “[Music] has a very specific poetic aspect that helps you articulate things you never could,” Abram said. “When you hear a song and you just feel it so deeply in your bones it just resonates with you completely and you get that magical feeling–that’s what a good song does.”
Emma Frost, junior, has been in NPHS’s intermediate dance class for three years, and a dancer for 15 years. She grew up dancing to pop, and now values the moments where she can listen to other genres of music that do not spark ideas of choreography, like Zach Bryan. “The reason I love country music is because I don’t have those visions of dance numbers [when I listen to it],” Frost said, “[If] I want to remember the happy things then I will really surround myself with happy music […] I find that escaping is better than going along with the sad ideas.”
Music finds ways to accompany us through transitions, turmoils and enjoyment. “Music is one of the few things that can transport you to someplace else and dramatically alter your moods,” Napora said.
