Teen Rocks The Stage With Crushing Talent

(Photos provided by Pursuing JC)
Corinne DeRosa, 15, said she loves the presence of the drums when playing, taking on a leading role with the group.

By Janee Law

jlaw@longislandergroup.com

When Corinne DeRosa was 13 years old, she attended Camp Electric in Nashville, Tennessee, and decided to enter a three-day national drumming competition.

For the competition, DeRosa, now 15, participated in all three days of the event. From 280 drummers, judges selected three finalists to compete in a drum faceoff – a one-minute drum solo in front of an audience. The role of the audience was to select the drumming champion.

Although she was nervous during the competition, DeRosa, of Huntington, said she was elated when the audience selected her as the winner.

At nine years old, DeRosa was inspired to play the drums after seeing a female drummer at North Shore Community Church, who eventually passed down the drum set to her. From there, DeRosa took drum lessons and hasn’t stopped since.

Although she tried to play other instruments, nothing stuck with her.

“My brother played piano so I tried that and I was really bad at it, but I was always pushed towards the drums,” she said. “I just always thought the drums looked cool.”

DeRosa is now part of Pursuing JC, a Long Island Christian rock band whose members range in ages 12-18. In the six years she’s taken up the drums, DeRosa has performed at more than 300 shows.

Cory Rooney, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and an executive producer for Jennifer Lopez, recently stated, “She’s awesome! I kid you not! She can really play. I’m totally blown away.”

In addition, studio drummer Andrew Bertrand also stated, “Forget about her age, forget about her gender, as soon as you see her with those sticks in her hands, you know she is a professional drummer.”

Although she performs Christian rock music with Pursuing JC, DeRosa said she also enjoys playing classic rock and pop music in her free time. In particular, she added every once and a while she will play the song “Brother” by Needtobreathe or a few songs from Billy Joel and Elton John.

This Sunday, DeRosa and Pursuing JC will be performing at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Greenvale for the Shelter Rock Church Easter Celebration Services.

DeRosa said the band has been practicing diligently leading up to the event and will perform a lot of Christian rock music.

The nine-member band expects a busy summer as the musicians are booked to perform for several retreats and festivals.

Currently a freshman at Walt Whitman High School, DeRosa is on the schools softball team and is involved in the music honor society after school program.