Wayne Teen Wins Tri-State Music Competition

Sydney Silodor, a 15 year-old sophomore at Wayne Hills High School, is part of a group that won a recent ‘Battle of The Bands’ competition against 200 other musicians from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.  The contest was held at The Highline Ballroom in New York City.

“Sydney’s band blew the other kids off the stage,” says Tom Nadolski, who prepared the band for the Highline event.  “She has a level of poise, grit, and talent that’s beyond impressive, and she and her bandmates were leagues above all the contenders.”

Sydney and her fellow musicians are students at School of Rock Montclair, an afterschool music program.  Along with having private lessons each week, she’s also part of the School’s Performance Program that puts on themed concerts, which are presented at area rock clubs.

Sydney and her bandmates began rehearsals for a Performance Program tribute to The Allman Brothers in May '12.  The concerts were performed in August '12 at Just Jake’s in Montclair and Mexicali Live in Teaneck.  Audience response to the band’s shows was so positive, they were chosen to represent the School at the Highline competition against other School of Rock bands in the tri-state area.

“Sydney’s band performed the classic Allman’s song ‘One Way Out’ says Nadolski, who is a band coach at School of Rock Montclair as well as the music director at School of Rock Wayne.  “They were competing against amazing young musicians from Manhattan, Chatham, Princeton, Randolph, Tenafly, Farmingdale, and more – and our guys came out victorious.  Given the power of their show and the amazing confidence they displayed, it’s clear that Sydney and her bandmates have many more awesome performances in store – and we can’t wait to see them.”