James Sampliner
My dear BBHS family...
How terribly terribly sad I am today by this news. This was the man who changed the game for me completely. He made me realize that deep inside me I had a love for the theater. He was more than an inspiration. He was everything to me and my development as an artist. Between he and Gary Cialfi, they both are responsible for not only the musician I am today, not only the career I have today, but also the MAN I am today. For those of you who were in Italy with us, that was my first taste of not only high school life, but the WORLD. And Trauty made me feel as welcome as the seniors even though I was only 13.
I am so sad because this great man is the only one of the three music teachers from BBHS who never got a chance to see me conduct a Broadway Show. Joyce Gober and Gary have been so kind in coming to every single thing I've done on Broadway, and, like proud parents, they would always mention how George "would have been over the moon" about what my life has become.
I start a new musical on Monday, the 28th, in Princeton, NJ. You all can rest assured that my work on this new piece will be in Trauty's memory. He not only will be missed, but his spirit lives on in me. He is, without a doubt, the reason I am a musician today, and involved in the Musical Theater circuit in this country and around the world.
I hope that if a tribute is planned, that whoever organizes it will please let me know, as I would love to play piano for anyone who wants to sing for him, and most importantly, for his spirit to soar within us. He lives on in each one of us who remembers because that man was a gift to us all.
In loving memory,
James Sampliner
My dear BBHS family...
How terribly terribly sad I am today by this news. This was the man who changed the game for me completely. He made me realize that deep inside me I had a love for the theater. He was more than an inspiration. He was everything to me and my development as an artist. Between he and Gary Cialfi, they both are responsible for not only the musician I am today, not only the career I have today, but also the MAN I am today. For those of you who were in Italy with us, that was my first taste of not only high school life, but the WORLD. And Trauty made me feel as welcome as the seniors even though I was only 13.
I am so sad because this great man is the only one of the three music teachers from BBHS who never got a chance to see me conduct a Broadway Show. Joyce Gober and Gary have been so kind in coming to every single thing I've done on Broadway, and, like proud parents, they would always mention how George "would have been over the moon" about what my life has become.
I start a new musical on Monday, the 28th, in Princeton, NJ. You all can rest assured that my work on this new piece will be in Trauty's memory. He not only will be missed, but his spirit lives on in me. He is, without a doubt, the reason I am a musician today, and involved in the Musical Theater circuit in this country and around the world.
I hope that if a tribute is planned, that whoever organizes it will please let me know, as I would love to play piano for anyone who wants to sing for him, and most importantly, for his spirit to soar within us. He lives on in each one of us who remembers because that man was a gift to us all.
In loving memory,
James Sampliner
