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Peter A. Incalcaterra '51
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Peter A. Incalcaterra '51
Professional Background
My career in New York State public school education spanned 32 years, beginning in 1954 as an elementary school music teacher in Levittown and concluding, in 1986, as junior high school building administrator in Kingston.
Affinity for Music
An early interest in music developed naturally in an Italian home filled with Victrola recordings of Verdi, Toscanini and Caruso. I got started with the trombone, and began taking lessons in fifth grade. By sixth grade I was put in the high school marching band, not because of any special talent or proficiency, but because the teacher needed to fill the first row. My hat was down to my ears! I can remember being told to stuff newspaper in the hatband of my uniform to keep it from covering my eyes. The proudest moment for my Italian immigrant parents was the Decoration Day Parade in Amityville when they watched their first-born son march in the front row of the high school band.
Why Adelphi
Tuition costs at the time and proximity to Amityville. Adelphi was just fifteen dollars per credit, and because it was so close to our home in Amityville, I could commute and keep my part-time job at the local luncheonette. Although it was my dream to become a world-class conductor, my father had the foresight to advise me to get my teaching license "just in case the world wasn't quite ready for me." I was interviewed and accepted for enrollment at Adelphi by Professor Lawrence Rasmussen, who was impressed with my knowledge of harmony. I was the first member of my family to go to college. My father was a barber; my mother, a stay-at-home mom. To this day, I am so grateful to them for putting me through college.
Fondest Adelphi Memories
The close relationships I felt with professors Lawrence Rasmussen, Lillian Jackson, and James Fleetwood. Adelphi's original music department faculty was truly special; it was personal. James Fleetwood directed the chorus, Lillian Jackson taught sight-singing and dictation and Lawrence Rasmussen was a Bach man, a purist, the organist, and my mentor. We kept in contact after graduation—mostly with Christmas cards. My wife, Joan, and I were among those invited to his home to celebrate his 70th birthday. I also have special memories of the annual All-College Balls at such venues as the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC featuring the Claude Thornhill Orchestra. (Tickets were 3 dollars, including tax!)
Favorite Classes
My music classes, of course, particularly in orchestration and conducting.
Favorite Place on Campus
I lived almost exclusively in the "R" building, with excursions into the "A" and "S" buildings for the required classes in English and the sciences.
After Graduating From Adelphi
I received two military deferments during the Korean War (because I was pursuing master's degree studies at Queens College) before I was drafted into the army in 1952. After basic training at Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania, I auditioned for and was accepted into the band. In addition to our regular parade duties, each bandsman was assigned to one of two dance bands that performed on alternate weekends. It was at one of the United Service Organization dances that I met and danced with "the most beautiful girl in the world." We were married when I was re-assigned to Fort Huachuca in Arizona and made our first "home" off-base at the Mountain View Motel in Tombstone. Prior to my discharge from military service in September 1954, I had secured an elementary music teaching position in Levittown. Incredibly grateful just to have a job, my wife Joan and I drove with just one overnight stop from Phoenix, Arizona to my parents' home in Amityville on Long Island.
Most Proud Of
The elementary instrumental music program at Levittown, which I helped expand by introducing the accordion and organizing a district-wide all-accordion band. Due, in part, to this novel adventure, Levittown's music department was featured on a CBS children's television travelogue, Let's Take a Trip—a family show that aired on Sundays. The segment included performances by representative elementary and secondary, vocal and instrumental music groups including, of course, the all-accordion band. It was all very exciting and we prepared for weeks, although we were only on the show for five minutes, if that! I was often asked how I could teach accordion since I didn't play the instrument. My standard reply was always, "I don't teach accordion, I teach music."
Accomplishments
I feel that I've lived an extraordinarily charmed and fortunate life, which I would repeat (with the same mistakes, no doubt) in a heartbeat! First and foremost is having been drafted in 1952 and stationed at Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania where I met my bride. Everything else after that is incidental.
Professionally, I committed early on to give back and "pay forward" my good fortune in my career and community. I served many years on the Executive Committee of the New York State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, beginning as newsletter editor, and eventually holding the position of president, before serving four years as executive secretary, I served as a member of the Board of Directors of School Administrators Association of New York State. I co-founded the Administrative and Supervisory Personnel Association in Kingston and served many terms as vice president and president. I served 13 years as secretary of the Lions Club of Kingston. After serving as president from 1987 to 1988, I co-founded the Roar-n-Pride, the club’s big band. I was elected to the office of District Governor with responsibilities in overseeing and facilitating the work of the 76 Lions Clubs in the five-county area.
Hobbies and Interests
Music, politics and reading are interests. But travel is uppermost—to visit our son, Frank, and his family in Phoenix, Arizona; our daughter, Lisa, and her family in Portland, Oregon; and our granddaughter, Tina, and her family near Fort Walton Beach in Florida. Then there is the one more trip to Europe that Joan and I hope to make to visit several friends—her pen pal since 1946 in the UK and my fellow Lions Club members in Bitburg, Germany and Ehnen, Luxembourg.
The Year 2009
was a "Multiple of 5" year for Joan and me. We commemorated our 55th wedding anniversary on May (the fifth month of the year) 1. On June 18, Joan celebrated her 75th birthday and I became an octogenarian on July 15. Moreover, we have been blessed twice during our marriage with five living generations—first, when our son, Frank, was born in 1955 and, most recently, with the birth of our great-granddaughter, Kylie Grace.
Recent Giving
$800 to name four seats in the AU PAC Concert Hall
Why I Give
Because it all really started at Adelphi, with Professor Lawrence Rasmussen taking an interest in and encouraging a young boy who wanted to become a great conductor. While I didn't quite make it, I think I made him proud. I give primarily because my wife and I are able to do so financially. In the near future I plan to look into other giving opportunities to support Adelphi, in memory of my three music teachers and to honor my family.
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