While not considered essential in the same way as first responders and those on the front lines in nursing homes and hospitals, or grocery clerks and bank tellers, bus drivers, mail carriers, or teachers, musicians have played an essential role throughout this pandemic. Even with concert halls closed, music continued
DOWNBEAT! Official e-Newsletter of the Empire State Youth Orchestra | November 2020 Edition ESYO IS BACK, #ALLTOGETHER AT THE TUTTI! VIRTUAL FESTIVAL In March, COVID-19 shuttered concert halls and closed theatre’s across the country. ESYO moved online and hosted its first-ever digital music festival on YouTube and Facebook Watch. Now,
What is a Virtual Concert Hall? ESYO’s Virtual Concert Hall is a digital stage that allows you to invite ESYO’s vibrant young musicians into your home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen to your favorite classical masterpiece or Jazz standard on-demand or watch full-length concerts on-the-go from your computer, smartphone, or
This December 2020 marks Beethoven’s 250th Birthday, although no one knows the exact day of his birth. What we do know is that Beethoven was baptized, on December 17, 1770, at his family’s church in Bonn, Germany. Beethoven was born into an ordinary middle-class 18th-century family. His mother, Maria Magdalena
Now, ESYO is back, at the Tutti! Virtual Festival. Over two weekends and eight live-recorded concerts, twelve ESYO Ensembles return to the stage to perform the music you love, all together! Enjoy each performance from the comfort of your own home with ESYO’s Virtual Concert Hall. Carlos Ágreda and ESYO
CHIME, ESYO’s after school program, which suffered a setback after losing critical funds from a regrant partnership between the New York State Department of Education and Schenectady City Schools, is to begin online this fall and include several in-person “instrument hangs”. All ESYO concerts are to be recorded LIVE on
The 2020 ESUSA Northeastern Seminario students spent the week with the Teaching Artists of the Collective Conservatory learning about the origins of the 12-bar blues through Omar Thomas’ Sharp Nine. Born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, New York in 1984, Omar moved to Boston in 2006 to pursue a Master
What made Beethoven a rockstar? Seriously, what is the difference between a classical and romantic orchestra? Who invented the quarter note? Dive in each week and explore musical concepts that will make you a better musician and enhance your rehearsal experience. Visit ESYO’s virtual classroom for videos, listening exercises, and
2020-2021 Fall Parent Forum Virtual Tour RESTART ESYO FAQ Fall 2020 & COVID-19 If you have additional questions, be sure to email your orchestra manager, read the COVID-19 Safety Procedures and Protocols outline in the Ensemble Handbook, or check out the Restart ESYO FAQ page. Read more
The gathering was hosted as part of El Sistema USA’s Northeastern Seminario, a week-long music-making intensive with 2020 Artists-in-Residence, The Collective Conservatory. The Seminario focused students on the Blues and used ASCAP Award-winning composer Omar Thompson’s Sharp Nine and the 12 bar blues to boost their performance on their instruments,
Trey- Symphony Orchestra Curtis Institute Summerfest Trey, a cellist in ESYO Symphony Orchestra, attended Summerfest at the Curtis Institute. The highly competitive program accepts a limited number of young musicians, aged 13-22, into its 3-week summer program. The program encouraged Trey to focus on phrasing, rather than getting caught up
After a long summer of “gigging out” at small socially distanced grad parties, taking virtual lessons from players around the country, and practicing everything from the Bach Cello Suites and the Dragonetti Concerto to Charlie Parker’s Just Friends and Isn’t She Lovely by Stevie Wonder, Nick is most excited about
