Celebrates Opening Of Fuoco Music Center
At a time when most high school seniors were counting the days to graduation, Joe Fuoco—then a senior at Christ the King Regional High School—was counting musical beats while educating aspiring musicians at the music school he opened in March 1973.
In the 40 years that followed, hundreds of students came to the Joe Fuoco Music Center—started in Ridgewood but later relocated to Glendale—to master instruments and learn how to perform songs in genres ranging from classical to contemporary. The students—as well as Fuoco—have also become fixtures at a variety of community events from street fairs to parades.
Many of those musicians will be reuniting this Saturday, June 1, at the St. Matthias School Auditorium in Ridgewood to participate in this year’s edition of the Marge Fuoco Memorial Concert.
The annual fund-raising performance— named in honor of Joe Fuoco’s late mother, who helped to found the St. Matthias Blue Max Marching Band and was active in the parish school for years—will also double this year as the 40th anniversary celebration of the Joe Fuoco Music Center’s opening.
“We are proud to say that the students
now span over three generations
of families,” said Joe Fuoco and
Jeanette Fuoco, his wife, in a statement
to the Times Newsweekly.
“Family is the right word to describe
the vibe of the music center, and this
year is a musical homecoming.”
In speaking with this newspaper
on Tuesday, Joe Fuoco noted that
some of the concert’s participants include
individuals who are presently
in their 40s or 50s and were teenagers
when they came to the Joe Fuoco
Music Center. A few musicians
are coming from as far away as
Pennsylvania.
“Tears come to your eyes when
you see these little kids grown up,”
Joe Fuoco said. “You touch people’s
lives with this music.”
Music seemed to come naturally
to Joe Fuoco, who at the age of four
began by playing the accordion. Two
years later, he moved up to a sixstring
guitar, quickly mastering the
instrument he is known to play at
public events around the community.
While attending Christ the King
High School, Joe met Jeanette, who
became a part of his guitar club and
was a member of the St. Aloysius
Blue Eagles marching band. Ironically,
Marge Fuoco had recruited
Jeanette to help teach the Blue Max’s
bell players.
Joe Fuoco had been offering private
music lessons to students since
he turned 14, and he decided—with
the consultation of his parents—to
launch his own music school. The Joe
Fuoco Music Center opened on Mar.
1, 1973 at its first location on 71st
Avenue in Ridgewood.
In the years that followed, the
center would relocate to offices on
Cooper Avenue and, later, Cypress
Hills Street. Finally, in 1982, the Fuocos
purchased the music center’s current
home, located at 66-20 Myrtle
Ave. in Glendale.
While teaching students during
the day, Joe and Jeanette Fuoco performed
at a variety of events on
nights and weekends. They participated
in radio programs and eventually
became members of the
American Society of Composers and
Publishers (ASCAP), which counts
among its members legendary songwriters
such as Billy Joel and Paul
McCartney.
The Fuocos held the first Marge Fuoco Memorial Concert in 2007 in
honor of Joe Fuoco’s mother, who
succumbed to a brain tumor in January
of that year. Since then, the memorial
concerts have raised
thousands of dollars for The Honeysuckle
Foundation for Children with
Cancer and St. Mary’s Children’s
Hospital in Bayside.
The concerts also support the
Fuoco Family Music Scholarship at
St. Matthias School, awarded to students
at the Ridgewood institution
who maintained a grade average of
85 or higher, passed a music aptitude
test and wrote essays on why they
would like to study music. The recipients
earn free lessons as well as the
right to participate in a Fuoco Center
performance.
This year’s concert includes a
buffet dinner, a 50/50 raffle drawing
and awards for students. State Sen.
Joseph Addabbo is also scheduled to
be on hand to present Joe and
Jeanette Fuoco with a citation marking
the occasion.
Calling it a true variety show in
every musical sense, Joe Fuoco
noted, the program includes performances
of pop songs, country tunes,
jazz numbers, blues hits and classical
favorites.
The concert will take place this
Saturday night from 6:30 to 10:30
p.m. at St. Matthias School Auditorium,
located at 58-25 Catalpa Ave.
For more information on the
Marge Fuoco Memorial Concert or to
purchase tickets, call the Joe Fuoco
Music Center at 1-718-366-4055.
