“We Never Stopped Making Music” U.S. Youth Orchestras eFestival
The New Jersey Youth Symphony will be joined by the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, Hawaii Youth Symphony, Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, and Youth Orchestras of San Antonio for the U.S. Youth Orchestras eFestival on September 20, 2020.
September 20, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. EST via Zoom and YouTube Live. Celebrating American youth orchestras across the country during the global pandemic, the eFestival is free and open to the public. Music Directors and students will introduce five virtual orchestra videos and talk about their ensembles.
Click this link to view the livestream of the festival
Following a constituency meeting of the youth orchestra division at this year’s virtual League of American Orchestras conference, New Jersey Youth Symphony Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Helen H. Cha-Pyo partnered with Russell Steinberg, Music Director of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, to invite music directors across the country to share how their youth orchestras responded to the global pandemic. Allen Tinkham, Music Director of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras; Joseph Stepec, Music Director of the Hawaii Youth Symphony; and Troy Peters, Music Director of the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio, will join together to celebrate the vitality of American youth orchestras and raise awareness of the importance of performing arts education, especially during social distancing. In addition, each youth orchestra will feature a student representative who will share how continuing to make music throughout the pandemic has had a positive impact on their lives. The student musicians will also introduce a virtually coordinated performance video, demonstrating the innovative ways their youth orchestras have continued to connect, perform, and amplify the creative voices of young musicians during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“In the midst of this global crisis, we must do everything we can to keep music and creative arts alive in the lives of young people,” said Cha-Pyo. “On behalf of over 400 youth orchestras in the U.S., we want to take a moment to celebrate and encourage our student musicians to keep making music and spread the message of hope in their communities and beyond.”
“Especially in challenging times, it is extremely important to continue exploring ways to keep the music-making going,” said Peter H. Gistelinck, Executive Director at the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts. “And remaining relevant by constant out-of-the-box thinking is key in this particular situation.”
