Gerald Chester "Jerry" Nowak

I was a music major at BCCC in 1972, I was so fortunate to have Jerry as my teacher for the courses in Harmony and Composition. He never did get the pronunciation of my last name right, but it is an odd one so that's fine...I enjoyed a chuckle. He truly was a master of vocal and instrumental composition and we could tell he truly enjoyed teaching the craft. He occasionally mentioned the great Burt Bacharach, which gave us another frame of reference and source of inspiration in music...

My sympathies to the family. I treasured Jerry Nowack as a voice and choral teacher all four years of HCHS (1961-65). His skills and pure musical art translated easily to all his students. His voice was superb to hear and his conducting always made those of us singing look like stars. His teaching was a lifetime gift for me throughout years of choral singing through college, in Bach Choruses, madrigals and church choirs. Many thanks to him, may he rest in peace and the family and friends...

Ahhh... such fond memories of Jerry Nowak! As I remember it, I first met him as a student at a summer band "camp" and then he and John Krause were the band directors at Hunterdon Central in Flemington. I can still remember his facial expressions while directing the band as I would be playing my saxophone. At the time, he was one of our younger teachers and was such fun! He would pick up the tenor sax and play some notes and I was always amazed at the sound that he could get out of the...