New but Familiar

By ERIC ZIMMERMAN

Mr. Blutman first discovered his love of music when he was in the 6th grade. Decades later, he is now a new hire excited to teach Music Theory 1, A.P. Music Theory, Jazz Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band in the high school and Band 7 in the middle school.

Even though Mr. Blutman is new, he is still a familiar face to many of the JHS music staff. Mr. Blutman grew up near Jericho in East Meadow, where he met many Jericho music teachers. These friendships, the desire to teach, and his prior knowledge of Jericho’s reputation attracted Mr. Blutman to JHS. “I knew those people and their families for years, so in many ways coming to Jericho is a homecoming of sorts,” he said. 

After graduating high school, Mr. Blutman attended the Juilliard School and the University of Maryland to grow his musical talent with the trumpet, his primary instrument. He has taken gigs in traveling bands and performed in Broadway plays such as “The Phantom of the Opera.” Mr. Blutman even worked with John Williams, the famous musical composer for movies such as “Star Wars” and “Jaws.”

Previously, Mr. Blutman taught at Ithaca College and Five Towns College. Additionally, he co-founded along with his brother a music printing company called Pinnacle Music Press, which coincidentally has sold books to JHS.

Mr. Blutman said what he loves most about Jericho’s environment is the determination students hold. He said, “Students take challenges and seek challenges in ways that I haven’t seen anywhere else that I’ve taught.”

Mr. Blutman also admires JHS students because of their diligence and care for their work. “If you offer, ‘here’s one choice and here’s a harder choice,’ they tend to go for the harder ones, and that’s just an incredible attitude,” he said. Mr. Blutman is excited about contributing to the “energy of this town” which he claims stems from the administrators, teachers, parents, and students.

Sophomore trumpet player Nikhil T. values Mr. Blutman’s supportive teaching approach, and is glad to have a fellow brass player teaching him. “I appreciate the fact that he’s a trumpet player because the other band teachers don’t specialize in trumpet,” Nikhil said.

Mr. Blutman’s advice for students is, “Straight ahead, strive for tone.” When translated from musical lingo to English this means, “Strive to be your best and most honest self.”