More than 50 graduates of Hofstra University’s Department of Music who were classmates with Gina Pellettiere ’01, ’06, will join current students on stage to perform “Eternal Trailblazer,” a new musical composition celebrating Pellettiere’s love of music and teaching.
Pellettiere, the band director at Farmingdale High School for 18 years, lost her life in a tragic 2023 bus crash that injured more than a dozen students and killed retired global studies teacher and band chaperone Beatrice Ferrari.
Composed by Rossano Galante, “Eternal Trailblazer” will be performed at the Hofstra University Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble concert on Saturday, May 3, 2025, 8 p.m. at the Toni and Martin Sosnoff Theater, John Cranford Adams Playhouse. Admission is free and open to the public.
Pellettiere earned a bachelor’s degree in music education and a master’s in wind conducting, both from Hofstra.
“Eternal Trailblazer” was commissioned by a consortium of 20 local schools, spearheaded by Molly Tittler-Ingoglia ’07, ’10, a bandmate and close friend of Pellettiere’s and music teacher at W.T. Clarke High School in East Meadow, New York. Tittler-Ingoglia, who plays French horn, is among the Hofstra alumni who will perform “Eternal Trailblazer” at the Adams Playhouse.
Rossano Galante, a prolific film soundtrack and wind ensemble composer, was specifically chosen to create the piece because Pellettiere frequently selected his works for her students to perform.
To inspire Galante’s creative process, Tittler-Ingoglia asked friends, family, and colleagues to come up with words describing Pellettiere. The response was immediate. Among those selected: pillar of strength, dreamer, motivating, silly, over-the-top energy, and larger than life.
The result, Tittler-Ingoglia said, is a beautiful tribute. “There’s a trumpet solo in the middle that represents Gina,” she said. “It has a faster middle section that is a little bit goofy. It’s sort of topsy-turvy. But that’s who she was – full of life, very funny. When she was conducting, she would get so into the moment, her hair would be flying all over the place. I think the music is a wonderful reflection of her personality.”
Tittler-Ingoglia added that “Eternal Trailblazer” was composed at a level appropriate for high school musicians. The schools that are part of the consortium share performance rights to the piece and have been including it in their spring concerts.
David Soto, adjunct associate professor of music and director of bands at Hofstra, is conducting the Hofstra Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble concert, featuring “Eternal Trailblazer.” He and Pellettiere met in 2001 while she was student teaching at North Shore High School, where he served as director of bands for more than 30 years. The two developed a close friendship.
“Gina was very special to me,” Professor Soto said. “She touched the lives of so many people. We’re still grieving. Our hearts still ache.”
The September 21, 2023, crash that took Pellettiere’s life made headlines around the country. The motorcoach carrying Pellettiere, Ferrari, and the Farmingdale High School Band tumbled 50 feet down an embankment in Orange County, New York, while it was en route to a band camp in Greeley, Pennsylvania.
Following Pellettiere’s death, Hofstra University faculty members took to social media to pay tribute to their former student. Professor Emeritus of Music Peter Boonshaft remembered her as “a dynamic band director, an amazing music teacher, and a remarkable human being.”
Adjunct Professor Michael Salzman said he was impressed by her musicianship, her outgoing personality, and her joyful spirit. “Let her life inspire us to keep making music and creating community,” he wrote.
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