At the 26th annual Tenafly 5K Run and Dog Walk, which took place June 2 with four categories—-Tenafly 5K, 5K Dog Walk, JCC 1-Mile Fun Run, and Tiger Cub Races—the Tenafly High School Busking Club performed a total of six pieces for the audience to enjoy before the awards ceremony.
The Busking Club’s purpose is to deliver harmonious music to the Tenafly community in a variety of ways, one of which is performing at the Tenafly 5K. The music selection that the club performed this year was composed of various genres, ranging anywhere from country to jazz. The Busking Club’s president, Seihyun (Shawn) Lee (’25), and the club’s advisor, Mr. Patrick Finn, made the overall event even more noteworthy by arranging both individual and group performances by THS students. The following is the list of songs and their performers:
Jazz Improv: Tomas Fabbroni (’25) & Colin Kim (’25)
Apple Juice: Itay Moran (’25)
Perfect (Ed Sheeran): Ian Fleischer (’25) & Seihyun Lee (’25)
Golden Hour (JVKE): Sophia Hahn (’25) & Natsuki Mori (’27)
Finesse (Bruno Mars): Sophia Hahn (’25)
Just the Two of Us (Grover Washington Jr.): Tomas Fabbroni (’25), Agam Gitman (’25), Sophia Hahn (’25), & Colin Kim (’25)
The Busking Club’s performance not only served as a treat for the worn-out runners after a morning of exercise but also as an unforgettable experience for the performers, as this event had been the Busking Club’s very first performance in front of a large audience. The Busking Club used to be an outlet for students in the school community to connect, but after the latest performance, it experienced a newfound sense of performing in front of a large community. Another difference is that the performers expressed their gratitude for a chance to perform and interact with the audience through the connection of music.
“Many songs tend to be serious, but the song that I chose, Finesse, lightens up the mood and drives engagement,” Hahn (’25) said. “The purpose of the 5K itself is that people are connecting, and I think that’s more important than having a flashy performance.”
The Busking Club also expressed joy in being able to express themselves in front of the audience.
“When we go out and busk, we’re just ourselves in our performance,” Siddhant Sharma (’27), a member of the Busking Club, said.
Furthermore, members communicated their pride in the unique and special qualities that the Busking Club has to offer. The unity playing music as well as the beautiful melodies that the club gets to produce is enough in itself to drive the Busking Club to greater heights.
“The Busking Club is special because it is a student-run initiative to make the school better,” Finn said. “It helped make lunch more interactive because it provided live artistic performances. While most lunchtimes consist of students looking at their phones in their own space, with art, it’s like sharing the space. Performances are a way to create community.”
As the Busking Club appealed to larger audiences, Lee has great plans to further better the club in the following year by aiming to go viral on social media platforms and uploading its content online. He also pointed out the expansion of the Busking Club throughout the years: “Just about a year ago, I watched street performance videos on the Internet and thought that they were cool. I wanted to try street performing in our school, but I was afraid that I would be the only one who liked the idea. Thankfully, I found like-minded people—more than 40— [who] joined our club.”
By performing at the Tenafly 5K, the Busking Club reached new heights and connected with a wider variety of audiences. With each new performance, the Busking Club helped create a livelier atmosphere for everyone, taking one step closer to their goal of performing for people around the country.
