Cali 10: A Decade of Excellence in Music

On October 15, 2016, Montclair State University marked a decade of excellence in music performance and education with a gala celebration for the 10th anniversary of the John J. Cali School of Music.

Held at the Alexander Kasser Theater, the sold-out event featured tributes to benefactor John J. Cali ’09 HON and a special performance of Kaleidoscope 2016, which showcases the talents of the students, faculty and alumni of the Cali School through musical performances ranging from orchestral and choral offerings to jazz, string quartet and small ensemble pieces.

Montclair State University President Susan A. Cole, Trustee Rose Cali ’80 and John J. Cali School of Music Director Robert Cart offered words of welcome and spoke about the School and about the man for whom the School is named.

John J. Cali, whose love of music and of Montclair State inspired him and his family to make a generous gift to the University, greatly enhancing the music program, grew up in New Jersey and worked his way through college at Indiana University by playing saxophone and clarinet in jazz and swing bands.

Together with his brother Angelo R. Cali ’36, ’79 HON and associate Edward Leshowitz ’36, ’96 HON, he launched a successful real estate business, founding Cali Associates in 1949, and continuing in the industry until his retirement in 2003 as chairman emeritus of the Mack-Cali Realty Corporation.

A noted civic leader, Cali served on many boards of civic organizations and groups. A recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1996, he was a generous supporter of many cultural, educational and community organizations, but held a special fondness for the Cali School.

“Nothing made John more delighted than coming to the Cali School of Music,” recalls Cole. “He would go backstage and talk to the students.”

“It was on the mark to put his name on this building; that was the greatest joy in his life,” says Rose Cali of Chapin Hall, where the Cali School is housed. “And about a month before he passed…we were here, they were unveiling his photograph. It was probably one of the more spectacular things he had experienced because at that time, he was dying. The sweetness of it will never go away.”

The evening’s entertainment, Kaleidoscope 2016, featured more than 20 musical performances by ensembles large and small comprised of Cali School students, alumni and faculty. In all, 20 faculty members and more than 350 students and alumni performed a wide variety of works ranging from Francis Poulenc’s Gloria and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E flat Major to Nino Rota’s Trio for Flute, Violin and Piano, J. Lawrence Cook’s The Johnson Rag and Lennon & McCartney’s She Loves You.

After the performances, guests had the opportunity to attend a reception at the nearby George Segal Gallery to meet and speak with the president and other University officials, as well as a number of the student performers.