At both inner city schools where he has taught since moving four years ago, the diversity of cultures among his students is what he most enjoys. Wertz grew up and attended predominantly white schools, including college at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg.

“I love how much I learn from my students,” he said. “It caught me off guard. I’m white and a minority here. I’ve learned the world is much more than the cultures and traditions I grew up with. It makes me a better person.”

He first worked at the Brooklyn Institute for Liberal Arts, where he won a grant that brought Jasmine Arielle Barnes, an Emmy Award-winning composer, to the school. She worked with his students for a semester and together they composed and debuted an original piece.

“I wanted to show them there is diversity in music. Most band composers are white males and there’s not a lot of diversity in music. I wanted them to see themselves doing what she does,” he said.

Hollidaysburg Area graduate David Wertz credits Hollidaysburg director of bands Scott Sheehan and William Stowman, his trumpet professor at Messiah University, as big influences on his musical career. Courtesy photo

Today, Wertz teaches at the All City Leadership Secondary School in Brooklyn, which is known for its college readiness programs for underrepresented students.

One of the highlights of his first year as a teacher was taking his beginning band students to the New York Music Festival to compete and they won third place among 27 competitors.

He also organized its first Modern Band club as an extracurricular activity. Students play rock band instruments and play “any kind of genre of music and write their own music and songs. It’s very student-led,” Wertz said.

Another highlight for Wertz came last June when the all-volunteer Brooklyn Wind Ensemble played at Carnegie Hall.

“The venue is the place to play,” Wertz said. “It brought a lot of my experiences in music full circle. It was a dream come true.”

During a pre-concert sound check, he recalled sitting on stage and becoming so caught up in the moment’s significance that he missed his entrance.

“I was just awestruck. I thought: ‘I’m here and people are going to be watching me rather than me watching them on this stage.’ Carnegie Hall is one of those places that’s like, ‘We’ve made it. We’ve done something with that degree and it has paid off a little bit and we’re doing the right thing and are on the right track.'”

Adding to the momentous occasion was that some of his students had the chance to watch him perform.

“It was so great. It opened my eyes to see that I don’t have to only be a teacher at school, I can also be a teacher to my community and to my students outside of school,” Wertz said. “That solidified who I am as a teacher … I’m teaching them in a different way, showing them that you can perform and you can enjoy performing for people.”

It’s a lesson he learned from Scott Sheehan, Hollidaysburg’s director of bands and music department chair. Sheehan remembers Wertz as a “great leader who worked very hard. We’re very proud of him, as someone with such passion in teaching inner-city students. He wants to give back.”

Sheehan describes Wertz as “a fine example of how someone is making the world a better place through music.”

Central Cambria’s Director of Bands Michelle Kokus said Wertz’s best qualities are his “connection with others, sense of humor, creativity, empathy and that he is focused on growth, both professionally and personally.”

For the past nine years, Wertz has served in many capacities at the annual August band camp.

Wertz tackles many roles including marching, drill instruction, brass sectionals, organizing large group rehearsals, as well as helping to plan and participating in student activities designed to ramp up the fun level.

“He is willing to help out wherever he is needed, whether it be one-on-one with a student or with the whole group,” Kokus said.

His musical skills have increased, as have his methods and practice of teaching, “but most importantly, his passion for sharing music with others. I am so proud of his determination to move to New York City and teach and know he is empowering his students there to be as passionate about music as he is,” she said.

Sheehan saw Wertz perform at a music conference in Chicago last year with the Brooklyn Wind Symphony, known as BKWS. “They are just tremendous. His whole career as a teacher and a musician is amazing. He’s found his niche and his passion.”

Wertz credits Sheehan and William Stowman, his trumpet professor at Messiah, as big influences. Stowman “showed me that anybody with the right attitude can do music. Anyone who wants to do music should have the opportunity to do music,” Wertz explained, adding, “He also taught me to learn to relax. ‘Take a deep breath and make a beautiful sound,’ he’d say. I carry that with me all the time.”

In addition to playing with the Brooklyn ensemble, Wertz represents the Brooklyn North District monthly as a music educator at the Carnegie Hall Music Educators Workshop and serves as guest clinician for the All-City Orchestra. He is also an active brass adjudicator with the New York State School Music Educators Association, judging festivals throughout the state of New York. He also fills in on trumpet for various ensembles throughout New York City and has performed at the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles.

In the future, Wertz is “looking forward” to serving as the assistant Symphonic Band chair for the New York City High School Honors Music Festival, a competitive event which provides students with an opportunity to play a high level repertoire with world renown conductors.

Personally, Wertz and his partner, John Merrone, enjoy city living. They live in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn in a fourth-floor walk up.

“It’s great exercise and great for your calves,” Wertz said, as they must navigate five flights of stairs.

Merrone, who is from Cambria County, is a middle school choir teacher in Queens. The two met at Messiah. Wertz came to New York City first and then Merrone followed.

“I changed his mind about the city and now he loves it,” Wertz said, but they find themselves missing local eateries and coffee shops like the Mayfield and the Clay Cup and Greenbean. And, especially, they miss Sheetz.

“We go back home and it’s the first thing we hit up,” he said. Then on their return trip, they load up on Sheetz and pack their apartment freezer.

“What I wouldn’t do for some mac-n-cheese from Sheetz right now,” he said wistfully when chatting with the Mirror by phone.

He’s discovered his neighborhood barber, coffee shop and grocery stop on the same block — where they’ve learned his name and he’s building relationships.

“My neighborhood is so family-oriented. When I first moved here, I was like ‘nobody’s ever going to know me and remember me.’ I thought I’m going to be a small fish in a big, big pond. But it’s really interesting that once you live in a neighborhood for a while it becomes like a mini Hollidaysburg.”

Living in the city has additional advantages — including being able to travel easily to anywhere in the world. As a member of the Brooklyn Wind Ensemble, he’s traveled the world, with highlights being Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, South Korea.

“That was life-changing to experience Asian culture firsthand where the emphasis is on kindness and making sure everyone is taken care of,” Wertz said.

Whether it’s from his students or through his world travels, Wertz said he has learned so much. “The world is much, much more than just the cultures and traditions that I grew up with. I feel that knowing about all the cultures out there kind of made me a better person and made me more understanding and able to connect better with people in general.”

Mirror Staff Writer Patt Keith can be reached at 814-949-7030.

The Wertz file

Name: David Wertz

Age: 28

Family: Partner, John Merrone; parents, Denton and Beverly Wertz of Hollidaysburg

Education: Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School Class of 2015; bachelor’s degree in Music Education for PreK to 12 from Messiah University, Mechanicsburg; pursuing a master’s degree from the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Mass.

Employment: Teaches music at All City Leadership Secondary School, grades 6-12, in Brooklyn; previously taught band at the Brooklyn Institute for the Liberal Arts