Remembering Music & Art

By Bernie Bierman - Class of Spring 1951 
(As seen on Facebook, Music and Art High School (M&A), May 1, 2015)
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The M&A Class of June 1951 held its 50th graduation ceremony in early June 2001. Among other celebratory things, a commemorative album was produced. Following is the introduction to that album. I believe that many if not all of you will relate to some of the things that are said.

"When talking to many people about high school reunions, I have come away with the feeling that to most, high school reunions are more interesting, and often more important than college reunions. The people with whom I have spoken appear to recall their high school classmates more vividly than they do their college classmates. But on the other hand, when I asked those same people whether they felt the bonds made during those high school years had lasted, the response was in some cases a qualified “yes”, but in most cases, a clear “no”.
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And it is precisely there that Music & Art is decidedly different, and this is moreover evidenced by the fact that Music & Art has an alumni association unlike any other high school alumni association. Indeed, in New York City, the alumni associations of so-called special high schools like Bronx Science, Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech pale next to that of Music & Art. Clearly, Music & Art generates a feeling in its alumni that few high schools can duplicate.
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​Music & Art was not just a high school. It was an experience. It was such an experience that every year, hundreds of its graduates come together to celebrate that experience. And when they come together, the bonds forged years before and the camaraderie born in the four years spent there appear to be as strong as ever. Why? There are probably a score of reasons, but one is the fact that every one of us shared (and undoubtedly still shares) a love and passion for the fine or performing arts, and in many cases, for both. Without dispute, the performing and fine arts are by themselves natural bonding agents.
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My four years at Music & Art were spent not so much as a participant but more as an observer. Why I chose this path is of course another story for another day. Yet, it was this very role as observer that would in time lead me to bring together so many of those people who I, in a manner of speaking had shunned, but at the same time had carefully observed.

When I walked down the steps of St. Nicholas Park for the last time on June 26, 1951, I wanted to purge myself of all thoughts of the previous four years. I was fairly much convinced that I had made a serious error by choosing to attend M&A, and indeed for the following ten or so years, I gave little if any thought to those days on St. Nicholas Heights.

Curiously enough, I kept most of the mementos and memorabilia of my high school days. Curious, because while an outer voice was saying that Music & Art had no meaning, an inner voice seemed to be saying just the opposite. And what was always significant was that despite my proclamations that the school held little meaning for me, I seemed to be able to recall with stark vividness some 250 of the names and faces of my 288 classmates, and then go on to recount all sorts and manner of things they did, or words they had said.
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As the transition into adulthood took hold, I began to realize that my decision to attend Music & Art High School was not a grievous mistake, but on the contrary a very wise choice. Maturation had now made me see, and realize even more how fortunate I had been to spend four years at this school. However, a school by itself is in a certain way an abstraction. What is concrete, what is specific are the people of the school. And the people of this school were my classmates, all 288 of them…special, unique, interesting, fascinating boys and girls, and equally special, unique, interesting, fascinating men and women, as this album will clearly demonstrate.

Bernie Bierman
August 2001
Pawling, NY"

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