In Amrom Svay’s music career, challenges have become stepping stones.
From a borrowed clarinet from his uncle for Birchwood’s fourth-grade music classes, to the positive influence of sixth-grade music teacher Mr. Richard Fornaro, who moved Amrom over to the saxophone, to finally making it to Whitman’s Jazz Band, where he tried hard to figure out how senior trombone and Grammy-awarded musician Eric Miller achieved that sound, Amrom Svay knew early on that he was onto something. And with each hurdle, his commitment grew.
“It has been such a joy to watch him grow, to see his maturity and his commitment to constantly want to improve,” said Mr. Allan Dietz, Whitman music teacher and director of the award-winning jazz program at Whitman.
Svay recently learned that he has been selected to receive the Otto Khan Scholarship Award in the Arts.
“Being voted to National Jazz Ensemble confirms all my hard work,” said Svay. “Every setback I’ve experienced, including being denied in the past for all-county, made me more determined to work harder. Next fall I’m hoping to get into the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. That would put me right in the middle of New York’s jazz scene, where I can continue my music education, always growing and improving.”
Svay can be seen live on Wednesday and Friday nights at , an Asian Fusion restaurant on Main Street just East of Huntington Village.
