On March 16th, the Scarsdale High School Tri-M Music Honor Society had their induction ceremony in the music tower at SHS. Along with the formal acceptances of new members, several students performed for the audience and a few people gave speeches. The ceremony was recorded for the local channel, and the audience included current members and their parents.
The Tri-M Music Honor Society was created by the National Association for Music Education as a program that, according to its website, “focuses on creating future leaders in music education and music advocacy.” The three M’s in Tri-M stand for Modern Music Masters, representing how the members wish to use talent in music to communicate in service in the modern era. SHS is one of Tri-M’s 18,000 chapters spread throughout the states. In the past year, members of Tri-M at Scarsdale High School have performed at several nursing homes and for other community events.
To become a member, inductees had to fulfill a list of requirements, such as performing for charity, ushering for a school performance, or helping Tri-M raise funds. Tri-M is unlike many SHS clubs, which are not as formal in their process for accepting new members. “It’s encouraged that as a chapter, we do have an induction to really honor the people who are being inducted. [The inductees are] not just being inducted into our chapter, [they’re also] being inducted into a national society for musicians,” said President of SHS Tri-M Nivi Ravi ’17.
In addition, most of the officers of Tri-M noted how it has changed since when they first joined. “In years past, people haven’t really taken induction seriously, and Tri-M I think—at least [in how] I’ve observed it over my past 4 years—has evolved into a club that takes what it does a bit more seriously. It’s not just something that people slap on their college resumes any more. That was also why we tried to formalize induction a bit more so that people would really get a sense of the commitment that trim has opposed to just the name,” noted Vice-President Karen Zaklama ’17.
To begin the induction, SHS Orchestra Teacher Amédee Williams, chapter advisor for Tri-M, welcomed the audience to the event. First was a piano performance by Vishnu Srinivas ’20 with a piece by Lizst. Keshav Rastogi ’17 was next with a traditional Indian drum piece. Then, Kathy Gray, co-president of Friends of Music and the Arts (FoMA), gave a short speech on how parents of FoMA help support music and the arts in Scarsdale. Isa Ameen ’20 then performed on the piano his arrangement of Shape of You by Ed Sheeran.
The officers of Tri-M then spoke about the organization and explained its purpose. After these speeches, inductees repeated a pledge after the officers and received certificates for their official membership.
The final performance was a duo by Ravi and Clapp, who sang and played the violin, respectively. The induction was concluded with snacks and refreshments provided by Friends of Music and the Arts.
Overall the induction was successful. “I am very satisfied with how the induction went. Everything went according to plan and there weren’t any hiccups; it all ran really smoothly,” recounted Ravi. The inductees agreed. “They had food so that made it a very good induction ceremony,” joked James Coleman ’20, a cellist. Many of the students were especially impressed by the performances. “The performers were amazing. There are a lot of talented people [in Scarsdale]”, observed Lily Kronenberg ’20, a violinist.
For the seniors in Tri-M, they felt happy to have been in the club. “The reward in being in Tri-M is that I’ve really seen it grow and I’ve also been able to play a part in its growth. And, I think in high school, having that experience was really good,” said Zaklama.
This year’s inductees were Isa Ameen ’20, Maya Bharara ’19, George Brady ’20, James Coleman ’20, Dylan Jansky ’20, Lily Kronenberg ’20, Padma Narayanan ’20, Abigail Nishiwaki ’19, Samuel Nodiff ’18, Harry Parks ’20, David Peng ’20, Jack Silvers ’20 and Vishnu Srinivas ’20. The officers currently are Nivi Ravi ’17 as president, Karen Zaklama ’17 as vice-president, Arjun Ravi ’18 as treasurer, Zach Kapner ’17 as co-treasurer, Laura Clapp ’17 as secretary and Rhea Kothari ’18 as historian.
by David Peng
