3 minute read
Meet Sebastian Guerrero, Peck's Upper School Music Teacher
If you could see inside Sebastian Guerrero’s chest, you’d see a Peruvian box drum where his heart is.
That’s because the music associated with Guerrero’s cultural roots in Peru, especially from his grandfather, Juan Andres, continues to deeply influence him today. (In fact, he keeps his grandfather’s guitar recordings with him in his classroom!)
“Because of my longtime exposure to folk music, I believe that there really is no ‘us’ or ‘them,’ and that everyone’s in this together,” says Guerrero.
“I fell in love with the way music brings people together, and gives them something they can share in.”
A professionally-trained percussionist, Guerrero aims to access the reactive side in his students— that side when listening to music becomes feeling music, and the self gets lost in the collegiality—and the heart—of making music with others.
Having performed with bands in a variety of genres, he knows how important it is to teach young musicians to blend their sounds together.
As such, Guerrero uses the Orff Schulwerk approach to teaching music, which invites learners into the creative process of music-making before mastering an instrument.
“What’s amazing about this approach is it’s not about talent, it’s about exposure,” Guerrero says.
“Your brain is adaptable; the more you do a thing with intention, the more you teach your brain to do that thing more effectively over time. When you play music, the synapses in your brain fire.
Even if it doesn’t sound good to you, just the process of doing it is a net positive for your brain.”
Sebastian Guerrero leads The Peck School's Upper School (grades 5-8) music program, serving as Upper School Music Teacher, Upper School Choir Director, and Theater Teacher and Director.
Guerrero has over twenty years in music education. A professional percussionist, he has played for numerous Broadway shows and performed on tour with numerous pop artists. As a dancer, he was made an initiated member and dancer of the historic zapateo group “Los Negritos del Carmen de Amador Ballumbrosio" in 2003, and has danced numerous times in the important Christmas celebrations in the surrounding villages of Chincha, Peru.
Having studied with master percussionists in New Orleans, New York City, Cuba, Brazil and Peru, Guerrero has a broad musical vocabulary. He is an experienced performer on drumset, Latin percussion, and classical percussion.
Additionally, he provides musical direction for the school's winter musical, and directed the 2023 eighth-grade play, MmmBeth by Allison Williams, a parody of Shakespeare's iconic Macbeth.
Guerrero holds a BA in Communications and Media Studies from The College of New Jersey.
The Peck School is a K-8, co-ed, independent school in Morristown, NJ. www.peckschool.org
We set the standard for excellence in K-8 education, where academic preparation and character development intersect powerfully in the learning experience. By embedding consideration of others, service, and belonging in all that we do, we are designing an integrated approach to education that develops curious and disciplined learners who positively shape the world.
