July 29, 2026 Submitted by Hingham Arts Alliance
When Learn to Speak bandmates booked their reunion show at the C-Note in Hull, they did not know it would be their last chance to play at the venue that helped launch many of their music journeys. Lily Andrey, AJ Rubel, and Nathan Tesler, all graduates of Hingham’s Class of 2023 and former members of the HHS band, will take the stage for one last set at the iconic Nantasket bar this Friday, July 31, and invite their fellow classmates and community members to join them at the 18+ show before the C-Note shutters its doors this fall.
Learn to Speak formed shortly before the pandemic and helped the bandmates keep the music playing during an isolating time. Through virtual meet-ups, track recording and songwriting sessions, and masked rehearsals in Tesler’s basement, the band forged its signature Indie Rock sound. Together with Cohasset High School alum Owen Caulfield (lead guitar) and Daniela Minidis (drums), a graduate of Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Andrey (lead vocals/guitar), Rubel (bass), and Tesler (keyboard) have since released original music on all streaming platforms and played together at venues across the region including at The Burren in Somerville, The Cave at the Red Lion Inn in Cohasset, New World Tavern in Plymouth, Alchemy in Providence, and, of course, many times at the C-Note in Hull.
After high school, music has stayed center stage in the lives of these HHS grads. Andrey formed a campus band at Franklin & Marshall College, performs with their Jazz Combo, and discovered a new love of Honky Tonk. At UMass Amherst, Rubel plays in two campus bands one of which – Art Heist – is opening for Learn to Speak on Friday. Tesler, who also plays in college bands and has participated in the Harvard Jazz Combo Initiative, has brought together some Harvard classmates and HHS grads to play a lively fusion set under the moniker Nathan Tesler and Friends to open the C-Note show on July 31.
Former HHS orchestra member, Nick Germain, also from the Class of 2023, is set to play as part of Nathan Tesler and Friends. Germain currently studies songwriting and music business at Berklee College of Music and has been releasing original music under the name Mr. 75 Percent. He credits the music program at HHS with helping him get his start, both through playing violin in the HHS orchestra under the leadership of his favorite teacher, Phaedre Sassano, and taking a songwriting class with Brian Cincotta, the HHS band director, his senior year. Sam Oppedisano, another 2023 grad who played in the HHS band under Cincotta, will also take the stage Friday in both opening acts.
All three of the Hingham grads in Learn to Speak played in the HHS band. They recently came together to play in the second annual alumni band concert, a new tradition organized by Cincotta. “Playing in the alumni band was a great way to kick off the summer,” said Tesler who played both clarinet and piano at the concert, “It’s fun to reconnect with classmates and play with musicians who cherish their memories of high school band.” As for their own high school memories, Andrey enjoyed playing in pep band at Friday night football games, Tesler loved grooving with the HHS jazz band, and Germain remembers playing a Justin Bieber tune with Rubel at an HHS open mic.
Thinking back over their music journeys, the HHS grads encourage younger musicians to keep music part of their lives both in and out of school. “The biggest piece of advice I can give is to stay musical,” Rubel said, whether it’s “listening to music, playing along with the songs on an instrument, or getting together with a few friends and throwing something together.” Tesler encourages younger musicians to “play with friends for fun, go to shows, support local venues, and pursue music that you like and that excites you.” And as Andrey timely noted, “music is not something you have to give up as you get older . . . if it’s important to you, you will find ways to keep it in your life . . . and, if you have talented friends, start a band with them . . . it might just stick even seven years later.”
The C-Note, which has announced it will be closing this September, was a mainstay of Learn to Speak’s show circuit, and the bandmates are glad they have a chance to play at the venue a final time. “I was very sad to hear that the C-Note is closing its doors,” Rubel said, “Me and many of my fellow musicians grew up playing there throughout all of middle and high school, and even into our college years.” Andrey, who also worked booking bands for the C-Note during high school, said she was particularly sad for younger musicians who won’t get the chance to find their footing on the C-Note stage, noting that the venue was “such an important part of my adolescence and development as a musician . . we really grew up on that stage.” Tesler echoed that sentiment, recalling his first time playing at the C-Note with his middle school rock band in sixth grade, saying “it means a lot to be getting back together to play at the C-Note one last time.”
Learn to Speak at the C-Note, 159 Nantasket Ave. in Hull, this Friday, July 31 (opening sets by Nathan Tesler and Friends and Art Heist), doors at 7 p.m., music around 8 p.m., 18+