NJSO Youth Orchestras to perform winter concert
- Concert showcases Academy Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and Violin Ensemble
- Henry Lewis Concerto Competition winners Camillo Lin and Alex Wu to perform Mendelssohn’s Konzertstück No. 2 for Two Clarinets and Orchestra
Sat, Jan 30, at 12 pm at William Paterson University
NEWARK, NJ (January 22, 2016)—The NJSO Youth Orchestras’ present their annual winter concert on Saturday, January 30, at 12 pm at the Shea Performing Arts Center at William Paterson University; the concert had originally been scheduled for January 23 but was postponed due to the winter storm. The event celebrates the 25th anniversary season of the NJSO’s family of student ensembles and features a special performance by the 2015–16 Henry Lewis Concerto Competition Winners, the presentation of the inaugural Susan Stucker Awards and an acknowledgement of the program’s graduating seniors.
The Violin Ensemble, led by NJSO first violinist Naomi Youngstein, performs Telemann’s Concerto in D Major for Four Violins and Burndrett’s Tango á Trois. Chamber Orchestra conductor Henry Kao, an NJSO violist, leads the chamber orchestra in Dvoøák’s Slavonic Dance, Op. 46, No. 1; and three movements from Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings.
The Academy Orchestra, under the baton of NJSO Youth Orchestras Artistic Director Jeffrey Grogan, will perform Markowski’s City Trees and the first and fourth movements of Dvoøák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.” Concerto Competition winners Camillo Lin and Alex Wu will perform Mendelssohn’s Konzertstück No. 2 for Two Clarinets and Orchestra. A Livingston High School sophomore and freshman, respectively, Lin, 15, and Wu, 14, are both students of NJSO clarinetist Andy Lamy.
The youth orchestras’ concerto competition has been named for former NJSO Music Director Henry Lewis in honor of his posthumous 2015 induction into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and in celebration of the NJSO Youth Orchestras’ 25th anniversary. Held annually, the concerto competition celebrates discipline, dedication and accomplishment by providing members of the NJSO Academy Orchestra with the opportunity to perform as soloists with the ensemble. This season, the competition adjudicators awarded an honorable mention to violinist Kevin Wallace, 13, of Montclair.
At the concert, the NJSO Youth Orchestras will present the inaugural Susan Stucker Award to four young musicians from the Greater Newark area for exemplary dedication and team spirit. The award winners—one from each of the three performing ensembles and one from the preparatory-track training ensemble—will receive an engraved plaque, and the NJSO will provide each winner’s school with a masterclass or clinic by an NJSO musician.
The awards are named for NJSO Chief Operating Officer Susan Stucker, who helped to launch the NJSO’s youth orchestra program in 1990. Since the founding of the NJSO Youth Orchestras in 1990, the program has grown from a single ensemble of 29 students to a robust family of four ensembles that annual serve more than 180 students from 11 counties of the state, with a focus on African-American and Latino youth in the Greater Newark area. The program has served nearly 1,500 young people in its 25-year history.
“The youth orchestras give students a chance to become not only better musicians, but also wonderful citizens. Both aspects are equally important,” Stucker says. “Performing concerts and working with NJSO musicians are tremendous artistic and career development opportunities—it’s not just music; it’s life preparation.”
Stucker praises Grogan, Kao, Youngstein and the NJSO musicians who serve as section coaches. “The NJSO is fortunate to have such gifted musicians who are also incredible teachers and mentors,” she says. “They are all inspiring, and we are all so proud of the students’ accomplishments.”
NJSO Trustee Penny Vance hosts the concert with Elizabeth High School Orchestra Director Shakura M. Ismail, who played violin in the NJSO Youth Orchestras’ inaugural season.
In an interview reflecting on the impact the NJSO Youth Orchestras had on her, Ismail said: “I’d already been involved with playing in an orchestra in school, but what I didn’t have was the one-on-one experience [the NJSO Youth Orchestras] provided. We covered lots of things I hadn’t worked on during school. The beauty of the program is the different orchestras within the larger organization, so there’s room for growth. The experience of working side-by-side with pros from the NJSO is really special. Music and the arts are such an important part of being alive, and [this program] really offers a place to grow as an artist.”
TICKETS
All tickets are $4 and are available for purchase by phone at 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476).
UPCOMING EVENTS
The NJPAC Symphonic Band and NJSO Training Ensemble—the two programs that comprise the Music Advancement for Newark-area Youth (MANY) partnership between NJPAC and the NJSO—give their winter performance on Saturday, January 30, in Orange. Designed to provide students in the Newark area with high-quality instrumental music instruction, MANY allows beginning and experienced students to study string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments with the goal of developing musical and instrumental proficiency while building leadership skills.
The Academy Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra will perform at Carnegie Hall on Sunday, March 6, at 8:30 pm as part of the WorldStrides Heritage Performance’s Elite Performance Series.
THE SOLOISTS
Camillo Lin, clarinet
Clarinetist Camillo Lin is a sophomore at Livingston High School and is in his first season with the NJSO Academy Orchestra. He has been playing clarinet for more than six years and studies privately with NJSO clarinetist Andrew Lamy. Lin has played in the North Jersey School Music Association (NJSMA) Region I band for three years and served as principal clarinetist of the NJSMA Region I High School Symphonic Orchestra. In May 2015, Lin and Alex Wu performed Mendelssohn’s Konzertstück No. 2, Op. 114, with the New Jersey Symphonic All-State Band at NJPAC.
Lin enjoys chamber music; he performed Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581, for the New Jersey Youth Symphony’s 2013 chamber music program. As a choral artist, Lin participated in the Advent Sing in Vienna International Music Festival in November 2015 and has been accepted to the 2016 ACDA Eastern Division Choir.
Alex Wu, clarinet
Clarinetist Alex Wu is a freshman at Livingston High School. Wu started playing piano at the age of 6 and began playing clarinet in the fourth grade. He currently studies privately with NJSO clarinetist Andrew Lamy. Wu has participated in and won the Golden Key Music Festival and Piano Teachers Society of America competitions multiple times. In seventh and eighth grades, he participated in the North Jersey School Music Association (NJSMA) Region I band. At Livingston High School, he plays in the Wind Symphony. This is his first season with the NJSO Academy Orchestra.
Wu also plays jazz and occasionally performs on the alto saxophone. He is active in school clubs, including Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), and enjoys giving back to his community through his school’s Key Club.
NJSO YOUTH ORCHESTRAS
Part of the NJSO Academy
The NJSO Youth Orchestras give qualified middle- and high-school students—especially African-American and Latino youth in the Greater Newark area—unparalleled opportunities to achieve personal and musical excellence. Weekly coaching by NJSO musicians and a supportive peer-to-peer environment provide quality learning and performing experiences and build a unique culture of collaboration. The achievements of this program and its impact on the lives of these young musicians have received national recognition from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
Three distinct ensembles—the Academy Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and Violin Ensemble—perform two full concerts each year. Additionally, the Academy Orchestra annually performs a side-by-side concert with the NJSO at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark and a community chamber music concert. In addition, the new Training Ensemble—part of the Music Advancement for Newark Area Youth (MANY) partnership between the NJSO and New Jersey Performing Arts Center—offers small group lessons and ensemble experiences, laying the foundation for students’ membership in one of the program’s three performing ensembles. The youth orchestras annually serve students from 11 counties across northern and central New Jersey.
Students who play orchestral instruments can apply for membership in the NJSO Youth Orchestras. For more information on the youth orchestras and auditions, visitwww.njsymphony.org/youthorchestras.
The NJSO Youth Orchestras’ Henry Lewis Concerto Competition was named in honor of the 2015 induction of former NJSO Music Director Henry Lewis into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. This naming helps us to mark, in the most special of ways, the 25th anniversary season of the NJSO Youth Orchestras.
Lewis broke racial barriers in the music world as the first African American music director of a major American orchestra—the NJSO. During his tenure (1968–76), Lewis brought the Orchestra into a new era of high-profile musical activity and community engagement, with performances in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to the neighborhoods of Newark.
The NJSO Youth Orchestras continue Lewis’ legacy with the annual Concerto Competition, which celebrates discipline, dedication and accomplishment by providing members of the NJSO Academy Orchestra with the opportunity to perform as soloists with the ensemble.
NJSO ACADEMY
Through the education programs that comprise the NJSO Academy, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra provides intensive coaching and instruction for musicians of all ages. The lauded youth orchestra program, El Sistema-modeled NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project), NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute, NJSO Coach-in-Residence Program and customized in-school clinics and master classes create participatory learning environments across the state that foster meaningful connections with live music.
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Named “a vital, artistically significant musical organization” by The Wall Street Journal, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra embodies that vitality through its statewide presence and critically acclaimed performances, education partnerships and unparalleled access to music and the Orchestra’s superb musicians.
Under the bold leadership of Music Director Jacques Lacombe, the NJSO presents classical, pops and family programs, as well as outdoor summer concerts and special events. Embracing its legacy as a statewide orchestra, the NJSO is the resident orchestra of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and regularly performs at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown and bergenPAC in Englewood. Partnerships with New Jersey arts organizations, universities and civic organizations remain a key element of the Orchestra’s statewide identity.
In addition to its lauded artistic programming, the NJSO presents a suite of education and community engagement programs that promote meaningful, lifelong engagement with live music. Programs include school-time Concerts for Young People performances and multiple offerings—including the NJSO Youth Orchestras family of student ensembles and El Sistema-inspired NJSO CHAMPS (Character, Achievement and Music Project)—that provide and promote instrumental instruction as part of the NJSO Academy. The NJSO’s REACH (Resources for Education and Community Harmony) chamber music program annually brings original programs—designed and performed by NJSO musicians—to a variety of settings, reaching as many as 17,000 people in nearly all of New Jersey’s 21 counties.
For more information about the NJSO, visit www.njsymphony.org or email information@njsymphony.org. Tickets are available for purchase by phone 1.800.ALLEGRO (255.3476) or on the Orchestra’s website.
The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s programs are made possible in part by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, along with many other foundations, corporations and individual donors.
PRESS CONTACT
National & NYC Press Representative:
Dan Dutcher, Dan Dutcher Public Relations | 917.566.8413 | dan@dandutcherpr.com
Regional Press Representative:
Victoria McCabe, NJSO Communications and External Affairs | 973.735.1715 |vmccabe@njsymphony.org