In The Spotlight

The Gold Standard - NYS at Fantastic Festivals

On May 22, 2010, Prelude Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Philharmonia Orchestral Winds participated in performances and adjudication at the 2010 Fantastic Festivals.

All 3 ensembles achieved Gold ratings for their performances, which took place at Norwalk Concert Hall.

The ensembles performed before a panel of judges who are experienced school and youth orchestra conductors. The judges commended the ensembles for "polish", "focus", "attentiveness to the conductors", "tone quality", and "solid fundamentals and foundation of skills", while giving constructive commentary on such matters as interpretation and musicianship to help the conductors and musicians identify areas for improvement.

Congratulations to all of our ensembles, and also to their conductors Susan Jimenez, Carly Kulawitz, and Jessica McNamara.

See highlights from the event in the Photo Gallery.

NYS Fundraiser for Haiti Relief

On April 16, 2010, the NYS Chamber Orchestra performed in a concert to benefit AmeriCares Haiti Relief Fund. The concert, held at the Carriage Barn Arts Center in New Canaan, attracted an enthusiastic audience and raised over $700.

This was the second concert peformance by the Chamber Orchestra, a new ensemble that debuted during the 2009-10 season. The orchestra features musicians from the Principal Orchestra under the direction of NYS Music Director Tara Simoncic.

The program included Gounod's Symphony No. 1 and a performance of Saint-Saëns Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, highlighted by the solo violin of NYS Alum Chris Burkhalter. The group also presented Copland's Appalachian Spring in its original form for 13 players, in a stirring performance which prompted Ms. Simoncic to comment to the audience that "Kids don't play Appalachian Spring...but we did!".

The program concluded with an arrangement of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal, which gave the group a rare opportunity to let their (bow) hair down and provide a funky backbeat to accompany the beatboxing and guitar of guest artist Akil Dasan.

See highlights from the event in the Photo Gallery and on our Vimeo video channel.

Mother's Day Concert Features Concerto Competition Winner, Commissioned Work

The annual Mother's Day Concert marks the end of the Norwalk Youth Symphony's concert season.

The concert traditionally includes the presentation of our graduating seniors and awarding of the Ramer Memorial Scholarship, which is granted to a deserving senior as chosen by their peers on the basis of leadership, commitment, preparation and attendance.

Concerto Competition Winner - Sophie Feinberg

The Mother's Day Concert also features a performance by the winner of the NYS Concerto Competition. This year's concert will feature Sophie Feinberg, principal cellist of the Principal Orchestra, in a performance of the Elgar Concerto for Cello in E minor, Op. 85.

Ms. Feinberg, 17, has been playing the cello since the age of 9 and studies privately with Lois Errante. She has been with the Norwalk Youth Symphony since 2002. In addition to winning the NYS competition she was 2nd place winner in the 2010 Stamford Symphony Instrumental Scholarship Competition.

Ms. Feinberg studies chamber music with Asya Meshberg and has attended the Chamber Music Institute for Young Musicians, as well as Kinhaven Music School. Her Eroica Quartet won first prize in the 2009 Greenwich Center for Chamber Music Scholarship Competition, and were the featured artists in the 2009 Leon Tec Young Artist Showcase.

During the summer of 2008, Ms. Feinberg toured Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic as Principal cellist and soloist with NYS. She is thrilled to once again be traveling with NYS on their performance tour through Italy this summer.

Ms. Feinberg will be attending McGill University to pursue a degree in cello performance at the Schulich School of Music while studying under Matt Haimovitz.

World Premiere of Norwalk Jam, by composer Dan Cooper

The Concert Orchestra, under the direction of Richard Brooks, will premiere Dan Cooper's Norwalk Jam, commissioned for the orchestra by the Norwalk Youth Symphony.

A Manhattan-native composer and multi-instrumentalist, Mr. Cooper has music degrees from Columbia, The New England Conservatory, and Princeton.

As a composer, Mr. Cooper was a 2000 Aaron Copland composition fellow at Tanglewood, and has composed original scores for several acclaimed Shakespeare & Company productions. Mr. Cooper's music has been recognized with awards, commissions, premieres, recordings, showcases and residencies from Albany Symphony, Artists International, ASCAP, Cary Trust, Empire State Youth Orchestra, Engine 27, Fontainebleau, Imani Winds, International Street Cannibals, Meet the Composer, NARAS, New York New Music Ensemble, and Palisades Virtuosi, among others.

As a multi-instrumentalist specializing in 7-string bass guitar and also flute with electronics, Mr. Cooper has performed all over the world, perhaps most notably as a member of singer Ute Lemper's trio, including performances in performances at Town Hall, Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, and Tokyo's Bunkamura Orchard Hall, plus broadcasts on NBC, Radio France, Bravo, and RAI.

Mr. Cooper is currently on the faculty of the State University of New York/FIT, where he has created new courses in American Music, European-Classical Music, and Latin-American and Caribbean Music. Since 2005, he has also taught Music and Literature classes at the Greenwich House Senior Center.

The Importance Of Music

An excerpt from a welcome address given to parents of incoming students at The Boston Conservatory on September 1, 2004, by Dr. Karl Paulnack, Director of the Music Division.