“It was the kind of debut most musicians only dream of: a world-class orchestra, tens of thousands of listeners,” writes Joshua Barone in Friday’s (6/22) New York Times. “At its outdoor parks concerts last week, the New York Philharmonic performed works by two 11-year-old girls, Camryn Cowan and Jordan Millar… They won over the crowds, who gave standing ovations…. Ms. Cowan and Ms. Millar … two students from Brooklyn … are part of the Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers initiative…. Ms. Cowan … said that her ‘Harlem Shake’ was an exercise in layering, but with saxophone improvisations that nodded to the neighborhood’s past. Ms. Millar’s ‘Boogie Down Uptown’ conjures stepping out of the subway onto the streets of Harlem for the first time.…. Jon Deak—a composer, the Philharmonic’s longtime associate principal bassist, and the founder of its Very Young Composers initiative—said that the program was inspired by [Leonard] Bernstein and his televised Young People’s Concerts…. The axiom of Very Young Composers, Mr. Deak said, is that all children are creative. ‘People ask whether I’ve found the next little Mozart, and I say yes, I’ve found dozens of them,’ he said. ‘They’re all over the place. We just need to listen to them.’ ”
In photo: At a recent New York Philharmonic concert in Central Park, Philharmonic President and CEO Deborah Borda introduces Jordan Millar and Camryn Cowan, participants in the orchestra’s Very Young Composers program whose works were performed at the concert. Credit: Caitlin Ochs for The New York Times
Posted June 25, 2018
