Coffee House: A Night to Remember
By: Nick DiDomizio
The cafeteria was filled with anticipation as a crowd of people earnestly waited for the performers to take the stage last Wednesday evening for Washingtonville High School’s yearly tradition of putting on a spectacular show for the community. This show is known as Coffee House and it was truly a perfect night.
Coffee House features predominantly musical acts and has been a trademark at the school for decades now, with the vital aid of the Community Service Club (CSC) and Chorus department.
Mr. Wurster and Mrs. Wurster, former chorus teacher and former CSC advisor respectively, pioneered the customary event countless years ago. This is where only the most consummate students of Washingtonville take the stage in the cafeteria to perform their self-composed pieces, other’s tunes, and various talents before the eyes and ears of parents and peers.
The Wurster’s passed their batons to the two new current leaders: Mr. Groth, head of the chorus department, and Ms. Frey, advisor of Community Service Club. Mr. Groth takes all of the auditions and determines if they are performance-ready while Ms. Frey and her Community Service Club run the behind-the-scenes setups and supply the hors d'oeuvres.​
This year’s Coffee House started at roughly 6:30 pm and lasted until 8:30 pm. Ryan Godfrey, Jack Carola, and Jacob Barringer were all master of ceremonies for the function, introducing every act before taking stage.
Everyone seemed to bring their A-game Wednesday night, but three performances should have really caught the public eye. Isabella Pagana, Nick DiDomizio, and Jack Carola all performed self-composed, original pieces, with Isa and Nick debuting their songs.
Senior Isabella Pagana debuted her new single named “Blue.” She wrote the song entirely on piano. She played the piano and sang vocals for her recording released to Spotify and Apple Music on March 29th, 2024. During the performance at Coffee House, she played guitar and sang with Ryan Godfrey on piano.
When asked about the feeling evoked from debuting her new song live, she expressed, “Awe is exactly what I’d describe seeing in their faces, and I was just as awed firstly, that I’d actually finally done it, and secondly, that they actually honestly enjoyed it. When I heard the crowd erupt, I was stunned. I knew people liked my song, but it wasn’t until that moment that I could fully experience peoples’ raw, genuine first reaction. This was especially rewarding because the version I played was stripped so it was my original song in its most authentic form.”
Nick DiDomizio, senior, also debuted his unreleased song written two years ago titled “For Someone to Love” featuring Isabella Pagana on guitar while simultaneously and prominently sharing lead vocals, with Ella Dueck on bass and Jacob Barringer on drums.
Jack Carola, senior, played his piece, “Nightfall,” for the second time only following the Class of 2025 Talent Show. This song was written fully by himself and performed entirely on a single marimba. Jack was ecstatic about his song and performance at Coffee House, stating, “Nightfall stems from the anger and frustration that fell in my life regarding my stress when practicing my college auditions, not performing as well as I could have been in sports, and then my love life. It was a way to vent out my feelings into a song. When I played it at Coffee House, I felt very excited because I got to perform in front of an audience. It's great to play your own original music and have an outlet to do that.”
There is one more notable performer from Wednesday night: senior Ryan Godfrey. Being one of the most talented and diverse musicians to ever grace the halls of Washingtonville, he ended his Coffee House tenure with a bang. Ryan found himself in three different arrangements. As aforementioned, he played piano for Isa’s song, “Blue.” He sang and played piano all alone for a worship song by Cory Asbury, “Dear God.” And lastly, on piano, the closing act of the night with a funk version of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees. This arrangement featured Isabella Pagana on lead vocals, Ella Dueck on backing vocals and bass, Jacob Barringer on electric guitar, and Jack Carola on drums.
Ryan communicated, “My last time playing at Coffee House was incredibly bittersweet; but I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out. I loved playing music with my friends and sharing that with others, it’s much more fulfilling than anything I could have done on my own.”
With 22 performances in an audition-based setlist and over 20 artistes including debuts and full band arrangements, 2024’s Coffee House was quite the spectacular and a night to remember.