Tag: Youth Orchestras

Medical Sciences Orchestra at University of Wisconsin-Madison Finds the Art in Science

Posted on December 3, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Monday’s (12/1) Daily Cardinal, Avery Chheda writes, “Musicians in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health perform classical music with surgical precision as part of the Medical Sciences Orchestra. Founded in 2018 by fourth-year medical student Joohee Son, the orchestra provides a chance for new operations for students, faculty and alumni in the medical field…. Staff in the Orchestral Conducting program assign Master’s students to conduct each of the university’s four orchestras—the other three being the University Symphony Orchestra, the All-University String Orchestra and the All-University Philharmonia Orchestra. Joe Mahin and Jared Sierra, second and first-year students in Orchestral Conducting, co-conducted the Medical Sciences Orchestra this fall semester. Once a semester the orchestra puts on a free performance … and just last week they hosted their fall concert…. Violist and molecular and cellular biology major Elliot Richer knew music would always be part of his life…. The rich culture and the harmony of diverse musicians quickly drew him into the Medical Sciences orchestra…. For many orchestra members, Richer included, music and medicine are just two instruments in the same ensemble. ‘Watching good surgeries is like watching art,’ Richer said. ‘It’s so procedural and elegant, and I think that’s like music too.’ ”

Élider DiPaula Joins Project STEP, String Instrument Program for Underrepresented Youth, as Executive Director

Posted on December 2, 2025 by - Who's In

Project STEP, the Boston-based nonprofit dedicated to advancing equity in classical music by providing comprehensive string education to underrepresented youth, has selected Élider DiPaula as executive director. DiPaula is a Brazilian-born arts leader, educator, composer, and pianist whose work centers on equity and excellence in classical music. At Project STEP, DiPaula will continue his and Project STEP’s shared mission to elevate underrepresented young musicians and advocate for their development. DiPaula joins Project STEP from Project 88 Music Academy, where he served as executive and artistic director after founding it in 2018 to provide free, high-quality music education to students—primarily Black, Latine, and immigrant youth—in Chicago’s western suburbs. The academy presented 88 concerts, and its students earned state and international honors, including the Gold Medal at the 2025 Sandakan International Piano Competition. Winner of a national piano competition at age seven, he later performed with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Goiás, received a commission from Goiânia Música Hoje, and directed Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale. DiPaula trained in Brazil and the U.S., holding degrees from the Universidade Federal de Goiás, James Madison University, and the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Empire State Youth Orchestra Breaks Ground on New Home

Posted on November 26, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Wednesday’s (11/25) Times-Union (Albany, New York), Katherine Kiessling writes, “When Rebecca Calos, executive director of Empire State Youth Orchestra, first toured the former St. Joseph’s Parish School in 2021, she didn’t see a patchy back field or the concrete shell of a gymnasium. She saw picnic tables filled with chattering music students and a rehearsal hall filled with a soaring symphony. In short, she saw an eight-acre home for ESYO…. Four years later—and amidst ESYO’s 45th season—ground has finally been broken on an ambitious project that will transform the 20,000-square-foot building into a state-of-the-art Capital Region Youth Music Center. Construction is expected to take a year, putting ESYO students and staff into their new home by Dec. 2, 2026…. The center will feature acoustically advanced rehearsal and recording studios, performance venues, a communal kitchen, administrative offices and a high-tech lounge … ESYO purchased the site for $410,000 in 2022. At the time, the project cost was $10 million. But when the team behind the transformation recalculated the cost to address inflation in 2024, it had grown to $12.3 million… ESYO [includes] 14 performing ensembles and orchestras, plus educational outreach programming, and provides training for over 600 young musicians from across the greater Capital Region annually.”

The Florida Orchestra Launches Partnership with University of South Florida School of Music

Posted on November 20, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Wednesday’s (11/19) WUSF (Tampa), Susan Giles Wantuck writes, “The Florida Orchestra’s music director and resident conductor will serve as ‘artists-in-residence’ this season at the University of South Florida’s School of Music. The Florida Orchestra is the largest professional orchestra in the state, and a big part of what they do in the community is teaching. Now, they’ve established a partnership with the University of South Florida’s School of Music to work with students in the USF Symphony Orchestra. The goal is to provide students with the opportunity to gain professional-level experiences and build for the future. Chelsea Gallo, the Florida Orchestra’s resident conductor, said, ‘Both Michael Francis (the orchestra’s music director) and I are artists-in-residence for the University of South Florida, and it’s really cool…. These young musicians are so talented, they’re so eager.’… The 70 USF undergraduate and graduate students will also have the chance to work side-by-side with TFO musicians and attend masterclasses conducted by internationally renowned guest artists…. Chris Garvin, dean of USF College of Design, Art & Performance, which includes the School of Music said, ‘…This initiative … [creates] lasting bonds between the university, the orchestra and the community we serve.’ ”

Leadership Change at New York String Orchestras Seminar, Long-running Young Musician Program

Posted on November 18, 2025 by - Who's In

In Tuesday’s (11/18) Musical America, Susan Elliott writes, “Jaime Laredo will conduct his 62nd and final performance as artistic director and conductor of the New York String Orchestra Seminar on December 24 and 28 at Carnegie Hall. The annual event was founded in 1969 by the late violinist Alexander (‘Sasha’) Schneider, a member of the Budapest String Quartet, his artist manager Frank Salomon, and Carnegie Hall, the seminar’s official venue ever since. The New School, where Salomon oversaw chamber music, provided rehearsal space and administrative aid, as it does today. Laredo succeeded Schneider in 1993. In a program note for the orchestra’s 50th-anniversary concerts, Solomon recalled the orchestra’s mission. ‘Our goal was that Alexander Schneider and, later, Jaime Laredo, together with their chamber music coach colleagues, would open new doors for the country’s most gifted young musicians …’ Succeeding Laredo as artistic director and conductor will be Michael Stern. That he is carrying forward the tradition is especially fitting, since his late father, violinist Isaac Stern, is the man who saved Carnegie Hall from the wrecking ball in 1960 … Stern is music director of Orchestra Lumos (Connecticut) and the National Repertory Orchestra, a summer training ensemble for young artists.”

Wallace Foundation and Roadtrip Nation: Opportunities for Young People in the Arts

Posted on November 18, 2025 by - News Briefs

The Wallace Foundation is supporting a Roadtrip Nation initiative for young people interested in music, dance, theater, visual arts, and more. Wallace will fuel a 2026 Roadtrip Nation program with an arts focus, sending three young people (18+) on the road to discover how they can stay creative in life, even if they don’t pursue an arts-related career. Participants will travel across the country to meet inspiring leaders across a wide range of careers whose paths were made possible because of their arts experiences, proving that the arts are vital and important for everyone. These individuals will gain real-world insights, career inspiration, and invaluable mentorship—all while being filmed for Roadtrip Nation’s public television series. Applicants should be engaged in arts learning or creative programs (in music, visual arts, dance, theater, literary arts, digital arts and media, or cultural arts) in their local community or at school. Examples include participating in an arts program—such as playing an instrument or being a musician in a youth orchestra—or having been involved in arts experiences or wanting to find a way to lead a creative life. Visit the application link to learn more. Applications are open through December 21, 2025.

Youth Orchestra Program at the Paris Opera Broadens Opportunities for Young Musicians

Posted on November 17, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Friday’s (11/14) New  York Times, Rebecca Schmid writes, “When Margot Petiot, now 16, began playing bassoon in the Rudolf Nureyev Orchestra two years ago, she had already been studying her instrument for a decade but had never been inside an opera house. Since then, she has been coached by professional musicians, attended dance workshops and performed publicly at Palais Garnier…. ‘The program has offered me a different perspective and reinforced my aspiration to become a professional musician,’ she said. Petiot is one of 160 musicians in the Apprentissage de l’Orchestre (ADO), a youth program within the Paris Opera’s Academy, which perfects the artistry of aspiring musicians as they set out to forge careers in the opera world. ADO encompasses two ensembles … the Rudolf Nureyev Orchestra for players as young as 8 and the Maria Callas Orchestra, which includes older teenagers and young adults up to age 25…. The youth orchestras are part of a growing network of programs at the Academy that begin in childhood and stretch geographically as far as South America, designed to cultivate both the next generation of performers and new audiences…. ADO was started in 2023 to give a wider pool of musicians a chance at entering orchestral or opera life.”

In U.K., Moves to Restore Arts Curriculum in Schools

Posted on November 10, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Friday’s (11/7) Guardian (U.K.), Lanre Bakare and Nadia Khomami write, “For years, Britain’s leading cultural figures have warned that substandard arts provision in schools is devaluing the sector and creating an increasingly elite industry…. On Wednesday the Department for Education said it wanted to boost the creative subjects … as part of its wider changes to England’s national curriculum. The changes were unveiled in the government’s response to the curriculum and assessment review published this week by Prof. Becky Francis, which stated: ‘The arts subjects are an entitlement rather than an optional extra and are disciplines in their own right.’ The playwright James Graham [said], ‘It’s important now to look to the future and use this as an opportunity to ask what a modern-day arts curriculum should look and feel like for 21st-century kids, and the challenging times they’re growing up.’ The composer Andrew Lloyd Webber said he was pleased the government had acknowledged … ‘that arts and music in schools is a fundamental right for young people as part of a successful education.’… The number of UK students taking arts subjects has plummeted in recent years, leading to a creativity crisis in state schools…. Beth Steel, who has regularly campaigned for better working-class representation in the cultural sector, said art, music and drama ‘are not extracurricular subjects, they are foundational.’ ”

League of American Orchestras Celebrates Youth Orchestra Division’s 50th Anniversary with Commissioning Project and Community Impact Awards

Posted on November 6, 2025 by - News Briefs

The League of American Orchestras has announced multiple initiatives to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its Youth Orchestra Division (YOD). Founded in 1975, the YOD promotes youth orchestras as essential cultural assets, building and maintaining artistic and organizational excellence in these vital programs. A key focus of the anniversary is the development of new repertoire designed specifically for youth orchestras, with the launch of a nationwide commissioning initiative, Composing Our Tomorrow: A Celebration of the League’s Youth Orchestra Division at 50. Commemorating the YOD’s roots in volunteer leadership, the group also announces the inaugural Betty Utter Community Impact Award.

Composing Our Tomorrow empowers youth orchestras to commission and premiere short, celebratory works, expanding the repertoire for youth ensembles and highlighting the next generation of creators. Participating orchestras will submit scores, recordings, and program notes, which will be added to a national database of youth orchestra repertoire. The Betty Utter Community Impact Award honors the legacy of Betty Utter, co-founder of the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra and founder of the League’s Youth Orchestra Division. Each youth orchestra is invited to recognize its own local changemaker who has made an extraordinary impact. 50th Anniversary celebrations will continue at the League’s National Conference in June 2026, and the League will spotlight member youth orchestras during the anniversary year.

Learn more about the League’s Youth Orchestra Division at https://americanorchestras.org/learn/youth-orchestras/.

Michael Christie Joins Peabody Conservatory as Artistic Director of Ensembles

Posted on October 30, 2025 by - Who's In

The Peabody Conservatory has appointed Michael Christie as artistic director of ensembles. He will lead the programming and direction of the Baltimore-based conservatory’s instrumental and vocal ensembles beginning in fall 2026. Currently artistic and music director of the New West Symphony in California, Christie has served in leadership posts at the Phoenix Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, the Queensland Orchestra, and Minnesota Opera, and has conducted U.S. and international orchestras and opera companies. Christie led Indiana University’s 2024 world premiere of Mason Bates’ and Gene Scheer’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay before it opened at the Metropolitan Opera this fall, and will lead Kavalier and Clay as his debut at the Met in February 2026. He won a 2019 Grammy Award for Mason Bates’ and Mark Campbell’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with the Santa Fe Opera. At Minnesota Opera, Christie led the world premieres of Peabody Composition Professor Kevin Puts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night in 2011, and The Manchurian Candidate in 2015. Christie graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance and was an apprentice conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. At Peabody, Christie will succeed Joseph Young, a 2009 conducting alumnus of the Peabody Conservatory.