Author: Sandy

After a very full and exciting second day in Munich, we enjoyed a leisurely day of travel by bus from Munich across the border into Austria…all while enjoying breathtaking views of the surrounding Alps and – at least on bus 1 – singing along to The Sound of Music :)

Crossing into lower Austria, we took a few hours to stop at the incredible baroque Benedictine monastery at Melk, which is located near the Wachau valley along the Danube river. We had the opportunity to tour the extensive grounds and view precious relics as well as the monastery’s incredible library, which houses over 100,000 books including many rare medieval manuscripts as well as an extensive music archive.

Our first full day in Vienna was a classical music lover’s dream from start to finish. We started the morning with a visit to the Esterhazy Palace, where Franz Joseph Haydn composed some of greatest works over a nearly thirty year period. Lucky for us, we arrived just in time for a special performance in the beautifully ornate Haydnsalle by the Haydn Quartet featuring works not only by their namesake but also Czerny, Puccini, and Verdi.

In the afternoon, we split up into groups to visit two other interesting musical landmarks in Vienna: the Haus der Musik, an interactive music discovery museum, and the Beethoven Pasqualatihaus, where Beethoven lived for over several periods during his lifetime. Haus der Musik offered many interesting exhibits highlighting the lives of major Austrian composers, the physics of sound production, and a history of the Vienna Philharmonic. The highlight may have been the opportunity for our students to virtually conduct the famous orchestra and get a taste of what it’s like to be on the podium!

Finally, it was concert time at the breathtaking Votivkirche. We were grateful for the torrential rain that arrived *after* our musicians made the short walk from the Wiener Rathauskeller and stopped well before the orchestra delivered a powerful repeat performance of its tour program. You can check out a clip of YO’s performance of the second movement of Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony” on our YouTube channel. A well deserved post-concert dinner in one of the Rathauskeller’s ornate banquet rooms wrapped up a very long but rewarding day.

We were lucky to enjoy a bonus day in Vienna – time to rest, relax, and enjoy the beautiful weather that finally arrived as we caught a break in the heat. The morning started with a cruise down the Danube and was followed up with more sightseeing and free time around the historic capital city. Time for art, shopping, and exploring Vienna’s rich cafe culture before taking in a performance of works by Vivaldi in the Karlskirche, widely considered one of the city’s most beautiful Baroque churches dating back to 1737.

A special thank you needs to be said to our two wonderful tour guides, Theresia and Leanna! They have been our tireless, enthusiastic, thoughtful leaders throughout this tour experience, and we have been so lucky to be in their care. And now after a restorative day of rest in Vienna, it’s on to our final destination of the tour: Prague!

 

YO was prepared to turn up the heat on tour, but arriving in Germany in the middle of record high temperatures AND the Euro quarter final match made for an exciting start to our travels! The 71 student-strong orchestra was more than up for the challenge, enjoying the many beautiful sights around the Bavarian capital during our brief two day stay in the city.

We tasted a variety of delicious local specialities, including the many delights of the Viktualienmarkt, and enjoyed lunch at the famous Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, which was originally built in 1589. Among the many famous composers who called Munich home, both Mozart and Orlando di Lasso both lived around the corner from the Hofbräuhaus at various points.

As usual, the highlight of our stay in Munich was YO’s opening concert, which took place at the grand Church of St. Rupert. The orchestra performed for an enthusiastic crowd of local concert lovers as well as a formidable contingent of enthusiastic DCYOP family members and alums.

Enjoy a few excerpts from the YO’s first performance of the tour featuring Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade and Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony No. 7 on YouTube, and stay tuned for updates from our next stop….Austria!

We hope you can join us for today’s Bon Voyage concert as our Youth Orchestra musicians prepare to depart for their tour of Germany, Austria, and Czechia in just two days!

YO will be performing works from their tour repertoire including pieces by Nielsen, Schubert, Dett, Coleridge-Taylor, and Walker. We are also thrilled to be joined by guest speaker, John Wineglass, an Emmy Award-winning composer and proud alumnus of DCYOP, as well as beloved Conductor Laureate and fellow alumnus, Ken Whitley.

The concert will begin at 7pm today, Saturday, July weekend 6th, at UDC’s Theater of the Arts. Please join us for a special pre-concert reception to celebrate this exciting adventure for our students, and to celebrate all the alums of DCYOP who have helped bring our mission to life over the last 64 years.

You can find the full digital program for today’s concert here.

 

It’s spring concert weekend! Get ready for performances by all nine of our progressive ensembles plus our Young Virtuosi chamber orchestra, as well as the stage debut of 122 excited beginner string, wind, brass, harp, and percussion students. You won’t want to miss this exciting weekend of performances! If you are attending Sunday’s concerts, please join us for a pre-concert reception to celebrate our students and the end of another wonderful season.

All concerts will take place at the UDC Theater of the Arts in NW DC. Parking is available on the street or in the adjacent garage.

View the Concert Programs Here.

Saturday, May 18, 2024
12:00 pm – Beginner Students (approx. run time 1 hour)
3:15 pm – Debut Orchestra, Concertino, and Sinfonia (approx. run time 45 minutes)
5:30 pm – Premiere Winds, Young Artists Orchestra, and Wind Ensemble (approx. run time 45 minutes)

Sunday, May 19, 2024
1:00 pm – Repertory Orchestra and Youth Philharmonic (approx. run time 1 hour 15 minutes)
4:00 pm – Public reception in the upper level lobby of UDC Theater of the Arts
5:15 pm – Youth Orchestra and Young Virtuosi (approx. run time 1 hour 30 minutes)

 

 

 

In this edition of Get to Know DCYOP, we wanted to introduce you to one of very special alums, Kathy Nierenz, who served as concertmaster in a special alumni side-by-side performance with the Young Virtuosi for DCYOP’s first annual Community Day celebration at the Kennedy Center last month. An accomplished violinist, Kathy has taught violin, viola and orchestra at the Music School of the Hanseatic City of Lueneburg, Germany for the last 35 years. Read on to learn more about Kathy and how DCYOP deeply impacted her decision to pursue a flourishing career in music.

Where did you grow up?
In DC/ in the Brookland area in N.E.

How did you get started in music and what was your path to DCYOP?
I started playing the violin at John Burroughs Elementary School because my older sister, Nancy, did that a few years before. Soon after, I started to take private lessons with Margaret Wright in Rockville-because my sister, Nancy, did that too!  I heard about DCYOP through my sister, Nancy, who was enrolled in DCYOP. I owe it all to my sister, Nancy.

How did your DCYOP experience influence your decision to pursue a career in music?
I first started out in the junior orchestra. About 8 months before the senior orchestra participated in the Festival of Youth Orchestras in Scotland and London, I was picked to take part in the tour. Playing Mahler’s 5th Symphony was the eye-opener. I’d never played such powerful and emotional music before in my life and afterwards I just wanted to do that. Every time I hear or have  played this symphony it always brings me back to my experience with DCYO.

What is one of your favorite DCYOP memories as a student?
My most favorite memory is the performance in London, where I started to cry after the slow movement. I remember vividly how proud Lyn and we all were for pulling the whole symphony off- after all, it is long and not the easiest piece to play.

What are some of the most important lessons you learned at DCYOP?
Lesson 1: you have to practice Lesson 2: no practice-no fun  Lesson 3: (and this one is the most important to me) orchestra playing is all about the common goal of playing in a team; learning that the success of a performance depends on EVERYONE doing their very best. I learned all of this from Lyn McClain and have over the years tried to incorporate these very basic principles into my own orchestra teaching.

What was your educational/career path after high school?
Still in high school I had the privilege to be participate in the BUTI Program (Boston University Tanglewood Institute). It was there that I met the teacher I wanted to work with at Boston University, Roger Shermont, who was in the first violin section of the Boston Symphony. Because of him  I ultimately ended up going to the Boston University College of Fine Arts. At that time, the emphasis in the music department at Boston University was orchestra training. Joseph Silverstein, the former concertmaster of BSO was also on the staff there and conducted master classes. My chamber music coach was Eugene Lehner who was the violist in the legendary Kolisch Quartet, which premiered almost all quartets written in the early to mid 2000’s. My orchestra instructor was Viktor Yampolsky, also violinist with BSO and former conductor of the Omaha Symphony and National Symphony Orchester in South Africa. Wow, what a line up of great teachers and mentors I had! After my graduation I went to Germany, where I have lived now for over 40 years

Who is one of your favorite performers? Why?
I have quite a few, it usually depends on what kind of mood I’m in. I will start with my current ones: Cecile McClorin Slavant (jazz singer) and her accompanist Sullivan Fortner. Why? Cecile studied baroque singing in France and has an impeccable technique. She’s the only jazz vocalist that I know who can change the timbre so eloquently depending on which genre and what language she’s singing. Sullivan Fortner is simply a genius with Mozartian qualities. The way he can use the simplest musical motive and turn it into something bigger than us all is absolutely breathtaking. On the classical side, I am a great fan of the pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason from England. She, as well as her other 4 incredibly talented siblings, is especially keen on giving composers of color their rightful chance to be heard. Her interpretation of The Bamboula from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor is my all-time favorite. I hope that she is as reknowned in the States as she is in Europe. As for my violin heroines, I have to mention Isabella Faust and Hillary Hahn. Sorry, but it was impossible to name just one.

What is one of your favorite pieces of music? Why?
Will always be Mahler’s 5th Symphony for the above-named reasons

What are your interests outside of music?
Don’t really have any, because there’s no time for them. Ask me again when I retire in 2 years.

What do you love most about DC and/or what are you most excited about doing/seeing while you are here this weekend?
I grew up in DC, so it’s always a pleasure to be here. I especially love riding the metro. I can vividly remember when the system was inaugurated. I am most excited about playing again in the Kennedy Center. The last time I played there was in 1974 for the DCYOP’s farewell concert from  before we left for Europe. If it weren’t for DCYOP I would not have pursued a career in music. It is a great honor for me to give something back to the very institution that gave me so much.

On April 13, DCYOP celebrated its first annual Community Day with a happy gathering of current students, parents, alumni, and faculty. The main components of the event – a side by side rehearsal led by Artistic Director, Evan Ross Solomon, featuring our current Young Virtuosi ensemble and nearly two dozen alumni, and a discussion panel featuring several of experienced faculty and moderated by Executive Director, Loretta Thompson – took place at The Reach, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The rehearsal and panel were a wonderful lead-up to the anchor event of the day, the Youth Orchestra’s concert in the Concert Hall, a DCYOP tradition that goes back to the organization’s earliest days. Alumni orchestra leader, Kathy Nierenz, who flew all the way from Germany to participate in the event, noted that it was the 50th anniversary of the last time she performed at the Kennedy Center as a young DCYOP student. To open the concert, Artistic Director, Evan Ross Solmon, conducted the Youth Orchestra in his own re-orchestration of Nielsen’s Prelude to Saul and David. The Young Virtuosi were then joined by twenty of our alums and guest artists across the orchestra for a rousing performance of The Bamboula, Rhapsodic Dance, by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. The Youth Orchestra closed out the program in a moving performance of Prokofiev’s somber Symphony No. 7, which it will also be performing at UDC’s Theater of the Arts for its spring concert on May 18th before preparing for their tour to Germany, Austria, and Czechia this summer.

For the first time, DCYOP also presented a number of award to students, faculty, and alumni who were recognized for their significant contributions to DCYOP and beyond.

Amelia Hanbury, a senior at The Cathedral School, and Jacques Sangwa, a senior at Gonzaga College High School, were both presented the 2024 Musicianship Award for their contributions both as musicians and leaders in their DCYOP ensembles. Amelia, a violist, has been a member of DCYOP for 7 years, and will be attending Princeton University in the fall. While in his second year in DCYOP, Jacques has made a quite an impact as both a violinist and bassist, and plans to attend Columbia University as a Political Science major (concentration in International Relations) with a Public Health minor.

Two of DCYOP’s long-serving faculty, Ken Giles and Rachel Pereira, were both recognized with the 2024 Impact Award for their dedication and commitment to inspiring generations of young musicians. For Mr. Giles, it has been quite a journey from former DCYOP parent to beloved faculty member who was inspired to become a music teacher by his sons’ experiences as students in DCYOP. “I am proud of all my students who have learned their instruments, worked their way up through the orchestras, and made lifelong friends along the way,” he shared. “I love to hear the top orchestra play so well, and I also love the progress of the beginner and intermediate orchestras.”

Lastly, the 2024 Lyn McLain Legacy Award was awarded to two outstanding alumnae, whose professional careers have been woven into the history of DCYOP over the years: cellist and founding member of The String Queens, Élise Cuffy Sharp, and violinist, Calida Jones, whose company, Creative Evolutions, has played a key role in assisting DCYOP as consultants and facilitators.

DCYOP looks forward to hosting more Community Day events in the future with even more of our families and alumni joined together to celebrate the past, present, and future of our organization.

We are excited to announce that two opportunities have opened up for qualified applicants who are passionate about our mission to empower students to transform their lives through music. Follow the links below to find complete descriptions of the positions and directions on how to apply.

Director of Operations

Operations and Administrative Assistant

 

 

Audiences will have several opportunities to enjoy performances by DCYOP students at DC’s National Gallery of Art in early 2024. First up on Saturday, February 3rd, the Young Virtuosi will perform a 30 minute program of works by composers from the African  diaspora including Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint George, Scott Joplin, and Samuel Coleridge Taylor. The ensemble will give two performances at 1:30 and 3:00 PM in the East Building Mezzanine.

On Sunday, March 10th, members of the Youth Orchestra will join the  for a concert commemorating International Women’s Day. Celebrated Ukranian-born pianist Inna Faliks will join the combined orchestra for the world premiere of a piano concerto by Grammy-nominated composer Clarice Assad as well  as Clara Schumann’s piano concert in A minor, op. 7. 

We are so proud of every student who performed in our winter concerts at UDC earlier this month! Ten ensembles, from our Debut Orchestra to our 91-member Youth Orchestra, played their hearts out on the Theater of the Arts stage for nearly 1,250 enthusiastic attendees. Among the highlights of the concert performances included the world premiere  by the Youth Orchestra of WONDER by Allison Loggins-Hull, the final K-12 New Music Project commission that was generously supported by our partners at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival and the League of American Orchestras. The Youth Orchestra opened the final winter concert with a beautiful performance of “Nimrod” from Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations in tribute to founder Lyn McLain.

We look forward to sharing concert videos with you on our YouTube channel in early January! In the meantime, see what some of our students, faculty and staff are most looking forward to during the upcoming winter break. See you in 2024!

 

 

 

For our last edition of Get to Know DCYOP for 2023, we want to introduce you to one of our beginner ensemble students, cellist Richard Bradford. Richard started cello with us last school year and joined his first ensemble, the Debut Orchestra, this year. A multitalented musician, actor, and singer, Richard most recently made his Folger Theater debut in this fall’s production of The Winter’s Tale, and recorded a television pilot last summer. Read on to learn more about Richard’s passion for music and his plans for his bright future.

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How old are you? What grade are you in and where do you go to school?
I am 8 years old and I am a fourth grader at John Lewis Elementary School

How long have you been studying the cello? What made you choose it?
I have been studying the cello for about a year now.

I didn’t choose the cello, my mom did. But now I wish I had known about it before. The cello is a cool instrument to play, and it has a nice tone, so it is also really nice to listen to.

What has been the hardest thing about learning the cello? What has been the most fun thing about learning the cello?

I’m not basing this on how I feel now, but in beginner A, I was actually having trouble with figuring out my hand posture. Basses are very lucky because they have two professional hand postures to use. The cello only has one.

I have to say that the most fun thing has been doing the eighth notes for Two German Folk Songs because I get to play a lot of notes and I like the tune of it.

How long have you been in DCYOP? What ensemble are you in currently?
I have been in DCYOP for a year! First, I was in the beginner A class and then I moved to the Debut Orchestra. My mom signed me up for the DCYOP before I knew anything about the amazing cello!

What do you like most about DCYOP?
I loooooove the fact that in DCYOP, there are all these different instruments playing and we have all these different parts and I like the fact that the music comes together well.

Do you have any musical goals that you would like to tell us about?
Singer-songwriter and dancer, that’s me. I just want to do those along with my acting career.

Do you have a favorite musician or composer (does not have to be classical!) that you like to listen to?
No, actually! I love a LOT of different artists. But I can’t say any one is my favorite. Including Billy Joel, Prince, Michael Jackson, Kenny Loggins and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

What do you like to do outside of music?
I like writing songs and singing, plus reading. I love to act and have fun too!