Music has played an integral role in the American government since the founding of our country. From State Capitols to our Nation’s Capitol, music has always echoed through the chambers of our democracy. Musicians bravely stood at the frontlines signaling troops towards freedom at the Battles of Saratoga and Gettysburg.
Since the start of the pandemic, members of the ESYO Young Leaders Program have curated two playlists for the community as a gift. The playlists, “Playing Through The Pause” and “A Quarantined Holiday,” were published on YouTube and shared with residents at local nursing homes and hospitals. ESYO Young Leaders
January is National Mentoring Month, and ESYO is excited to welcome twenty-five mentors to the ESYO Young Leader Program, now in its 2nd season. ESYO Mentors are caring, service-minded volunteers who donate their time to nurture personal development and cultivate youth leadership in our young musicians. Young people matter, and
Students from the Troy-based CHIME program, which typically meets at the Boys & Girls Club of Troy, got together onstage at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. As music echoed through the historic landmark, the smiles on the faces of each musician were priceless. In Schenectady, CHIME students at the
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
