NYS Music 2023

Tag: ESYO

  • Empire State Youth Orchestra’s CHIME Program Expands in Schenectady

    Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO)’s CHIME musicians will present the program’s annual holiday concert  on Tuesday, December 12, 5:30pm, at Schenectady High School. The performance is free and open to the public.

    ESYO chime

    Launched in 2015 with 40 students, CHIME has grown steadily, weathering the pandemic and offering life-changing musical experiences to hundreds of Schenectady students. This year, with additional support from the Schenectady City School District (SCSD), and generous contributions from local foundations and individuals, elementary students from across the district are now eligible to join CHIME through a lottery system, doubling program membership to more than 140. 

    “CHIME simply would not be possible without our partnership with the Schenectady City School District. The school district’s advocacy for the arts and their unwavering commitment to equity and access is truly remarkable.” 

    Executive Director, Becky Calos

    The SCSD/ESYO partnership allows CHIME to offer programming to enrolled SCSD students entirely tuition-free. The expanded program also includes transportation to and from CHIME sites, located at Yates Elementary School and Proctors Theatre. The entry to CHIME for the youngest students focuses on stringed instrument instruction, four days per week. As students advance in age and skill, they move to the Proctors site, where programming is offered for strings, wind and percussion players all the way through high school.

    On Mondays, the full orchestra has an extended rehearsal until 6:45 pm, with dinner provided. “It’s so thrilling to see the increased amount of creativity and connection happening on our Mondays at CHIME. Sharing a meal together really deepens our sense of community and the extended time allows the students to explore new ways of expression through movement and spontaneous composition in addition to our full orchestra, chamber music and sectionals. We are already seeing really amazing results in just the past few months!” says Dr. David Bebe, ESYO’s Associate Music Director for CHIME and Chamber Music.

    Many CHIME musicians participate in Empire State Youth Orchestra’s other performing groups and its leadership training program, Young Leaders. “We created CHIME to offer a pathway to musical exploration,” says Calos, “and we have built as much support as possible to allow youth to pursue their passions by removing as many barriers as possible.” For the youngest students this means providing dedicated teachers, quality instruments and daily practice. For the older students this means private lessons, college guidance and preparation, performance opportunities locally and across the US, and opportunities for leadership/mentorship experiences and training.

    “At CHIME, we believe that immersive musical study centers the whole student. Together with our students, we strive to build an environment that nurtures musician-learners who are curious explorers and citizens, actively involved in their learning process, music-making and community. Our approach aims at far-reaching impacts both within and beyond the scope of music. The importance of breaking down barriers to this type of instructional space and experience — where students can explore how they learn, contribute and evolve as individuals and members of a community over time — cannot be overstated. Continuing to expand access to our programming is of critical and central importance to our program mission, and we’re incredibly fortunate to partner so closely with SCSD in our shared commitment to these goals.” 

    Zoë Auerbach, CHIME & Young Leaders Director

    With CHIME’s expansion this year, dozens more young people  will have access to music enrichment and perspective-shifting opportunities. This past summer, for example, CHIME cellist and Young Leader, Jazlyn Bronson, traveled to Chicago with three of her CHIME peers to participate in the National Seminario Ravina, playing side-by-side with Chicago Philharmonic  musicians under the baton of famed conductors, Marin Alsop and Jonathan Rush.

    This year, CHIME musicians will be working with artist Horacio Fernandez to create a series of collective compositions that will premier in May 2024. This project  is part of CHIME’s annual Amplify Our Voice initiative, designed to offer youth a powerful vehicle to process deep emotion, explore shared life experiences and “amplify” their voices through music.

  • ESYO Returns to Carnegie Hall this June

    They’ve practiced, practiced, practiced, and Empire State Youth Orchestra’s (ESYO) Symphony Orchestra, a prominent youth ensemble, made it to Carnegie Hall. The concert marks the first time ESYO has performed at Carnegie Hall since the beginning of the pandemic, returning for the first time since 2017. The symphony orchestra will perform a joint concert with Norwalk Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall on June 4, 2023, at 2:00 p.m.

    ESYO aims to inspire young musicians to excel in a progressive learning environment, offering high-level performance opportunities. Over 500 youth from New York’s Capital Region and western New England are selected by audition each year.

    ESYO will conclude their 2022-2023 season at Carnegie Hall with Tchaikovsky’s extraordinary fifth Symphony and Verdi’s Nabucco Overture. Music Director Etienne Abelin described the upcoming performance as “emotional, powerful music,” resonating deeply with the young musicians. The young ensemble eagerly anticipates the incredible opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall. Principal double bass Orin Carlson-Lee described the momentus occasion as “not just a concert but a celebration of hard work, dedication, and the magic of music.”

    While The Carnegie Hall concert will close ESYO’s 2022-2023 season, there are no shortage of ESYO events this summer. Encore Stage will celebrate graduating ESYO students on June 17. The event aims to showcase the senior class, their talent, and accomplishments. Senior-led groups will perform throughout the afternnoon, scholarships will be awarded, and an alumni speaker will offer words of wisdom to graduating members. Alum and founer of Bassworks, Colin O’Bryan, will offer the keynote address.

    Additionally, starting on July 31, ESYO’s Summer Sessions begin. The sessions include myriad activities, from week-long intensives to workshops to concert picnic outings. Some events are open to the public, and encourage everyone to come together to make music. More information and registration are available here.

    Another summer highlight involves talented CHIME musicians, selected to participate in National Seminario Ravina. These students will travel to Chicago in July for rehearsals and coachings with renowned conductors and musicians

    Those interested in attending the Cargenie Hall concert or signing up for a summer opportunity can find more information here. Additionally, students interested in applying for the 2023-2024 ESYO season can find more information here.

  • Empire State Youth Orchestra Names Two Winners Of Lois Lyman Concerto Competition

    Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO) has named two winners plus a runner-up in its annual Lois Lyman Concerto Competition, who will be performing with the orchestra on April 2 at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

    Empire State Youth Orchestra concerto competition Lois Lyman Concerto Competition

    The Lois Lyman Concerto Competition has been an ESYO tradition for decades, and encourages ESYO Symphony Orchestra members to perform a concerto of their choice. Each participant performs a ten-minute slice of their piece from memory in front of a panel of judges. 

    Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO) challenges and inspires young people to achieve excellence through music in a progressive learning environment leading to high-level performance opportunities. More than 500 youth from New York’s Capital Region and western New England are selected by audition each year to perform in ESYO. With 13 performing ensembles and orchestras suiting a range of playing levels, members receive training from outstanding conductors and coaches, and tutelage from extraordinary guest artists.

    The winners are Yu-Heng Wang, who performed the Bartok Viola Concerto, and William Lauricella, who performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The runner-up was Liam Sullivan, who performed Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1. Yu-Heng and William now have the honor of performing their concertos with the full ESYO Symphony Orchestra during the ensemble’s concerts in April and October, respectively.

    Yu-Heng has been playing viola since he was in fourth grade and has been an ESYO member since seventh grade. “Ever since eighth grade, I told myself that I would win the Lois Lyman Concerto Competition. I was determined to one day play in front of an orchestra”.

    “What was most difficult for me was the fact that I had to balance my auditions for various music schools, as well as auditions for various summer programs along with the concerto competition. As deadlines inch closer, I become more and more stressed about whether or not I am going to have it ready by the date of the competition. But thanks to my less busy schedule at school combined with help from my teacher, I was able to greatly increase my efficiency in learning and preparing the concerto. Luckily, I had already been playing the first movement of the concerto for around a year now, which helped a lot, as it is the most difficult portion of the piece. I learned that once you’ve gotten the notes of a piece down in the memory, all you have to do is relax and let the bow and fingers do the work, and everything will turn out fine.”

    Yu-Heng will perform Bartok’s Viola Concerto in full on April 2, 2023 at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall along with the rest of the ESYO Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra will also perform Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Li Huanzhi’s Spring Festival Orchestra, as well as a movement of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, which will serve as a preview of the orchestra’s season-closing concert at Carnegie Hall on June 4. 

    Tickets to the Empire State Youth Orchestra concerto competition will take place on April 2 at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

  • Van Norton Family Foundation Selects ESYO as First Grant Recipient

    Schenectady’s Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO) have announced that they’ve received a grant of $22,000 from the Van Norton Family Foundation, going towards the CHIME program.

    Heather Manthey, Van Norton Family Foundation President and Co-Founder is driven by her mother’s benevolence. She says, “Our Foundation has a three-part mission: to support qualifying organizations that promote the interests of children, assist with the mental and physical health of individuals in our community, and advance the arts.” After researching ESYO, it wasn’t long before Manthey knew that she had found her perfect choice.

    Founded in 1979, ESYO is a non-profit organization that is widely known as a premier music education/performance program for youth and has received three ASCAP awards.

    The Empire State Youth Orchestra plans to use their stupendous gift to support their CHIME program. Creating Harmony Inspiring Musical Excellence was launched in 2015 to address fundamental inequities preventing universal access to high level music opportunities for youth. Today it is a free after-school program for grades k-12, that empowers youth to develop a strong sense of personal identity and community through ensemble-based music instruction.

    The Amplify Our Voice initiative provides the youth of CHIME  with a safe place to process deep emotion, explore shared experiences, and amplify their voices to the world. Through reflection, improvisation, and experimentation, the youth of CHIME create an original, multi-level composition in partnership with a guest arranger. This year’s theme, chosen by students, is “Stop Violence & Show Kindness,”. They will be collaborating with composer Adrian Gordon. The CHIME Proctors Orchestra recently performed Gordon’s piece “A Hero’s Journey.”

    Currently, in support of their CHIME program, ESYO has received a total of $105,000 from regional and national Foundations. Funders, Rea Charitable Trust, Review Foundation, Carnegie Hall PlayUSA, Barry Alan Gold Memorial Fund,D’Addario Foundation, Henry M. Butzel Foundation, Seymour Fox Foundation and Price Chopper Golub Foundation have all made gracious donations. For more information, visit esyo.org.