Author: Jerry Perelman
Bio for Jerry Perelman: FAQ – Stagepass.com
Mr. Perelman was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the High School of Music & Art, New York City. He received the Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music and his Master of Arts degree from New York University.
Mr. Perelman’s educational career includes teaching music for more than 20 years with the New York City Board of Education, as well as being an Assistant Principal. His achievements in choral music have been well publicized and some major innovations include the first ever New York City Marching Chorus, complete with battery pac microphone/speakers, flags and formation choreography. He has produced numerous school music videos depicting the music of famous artists and shows. One video featured a choral performance of Home from The Wiz, along with a student “Welcome Home†for the troops that served in the Persian Gulf. This touching video was personally acknowledged by President George Bush. A video in support of the New York State Drug Abuse Campaign featured original song and drama and was acknowledged by the Governor of New York State. And who can forget the video of Copacabana, complete with music, dance and drama, acknowledged by Barry Manilow.
In addition to his educational background, Mr. Perelman has performed at over two thousand events (aka “gigsâ€), playing piano, harmonica and singing. This background enabled him to understand the importance of combining solid music reading skills with the need to ‘show what you can do’ in his harmonica education approach.
Mr. Perelman’s discussions with other music teachers confirmed that most students assigned to General Music and Music Appreciation were not enthusiastic with the traditional course content. In his efforts to make General Music more meaningful and memorable for his students, he discovered how the fantastic harmonica could be the answer. He says “ harmonica is inexpensive and durable, with a rich and diverse history in American culture. In addition, it sounds so cool and is played by jazz, folk and rock stars, as well as us regular people . To insure its acceptance into mainstream Municipal Education Departments we need to establish “Standards†for harmonica education, similar to current band instrumentsâ€.
With this goal in mind, and thousands of harmonica students of experience, Mr. Perelman wrote his first book, The Perfect Harmonica Method, designed to instruct both individuals and classes. It is believed that Mr. Perelman has taught more students to play harmonica than any other instructor, and as a licensed school music teacher, he certainly has the accepted credentials needed to mainstream harmonica into Public Education.
At this time, Mr. Perelman’s innovative book is still the only harmonica instruction book to meet the high standards of the New York City Department of Education for NYSTL acceptance, placing it in the same category as an academic textbook and eligible for purchase by the school music teachers as a taxpayer funded text.
Mr. Perelman’s major musical areas are Keyboard, Vocal Music, Percussion, Harmonica and Theory. Other interests include skiing, tennis, snorkeling, flying as a Private Pilot, photography and skeet shooting.
