2024 AMP Youth Orchestras & Youth Choirs Joint Spring Concert

Atlanta Music Project program sponsors

The Atlanta Music Project is grateful for the support of our major institutional donors

The Next Gen Fund | Anonymous Donation

Funding provided in part by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners under the guidance of the Department of Community Development.

Major funding for this organization is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. This program is supported in part by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Atlanta Music Project Board of Directors

Philip M. Juravel, CPA, Chair

Jennifer Dorian, Vice Chair

Byron Gibbs, Treasurer

Racheal Woods, Secretary

Sarah Griesenauer Barros, Ben Cherian, Anne Cross, Deva Hirsch,

Valerie L. Holmes, James F. Lock III, Aaron C. Mitchell, Ceasar C. Mitchell Jr., Aisha Moody, Shawn Pacely, Andy D. Pittman, Dantes Rameau, John Sparrow, Lee Sheehan Templin

Atlanta Music Project Staff

Durand Bailey, Senior Director of Operations

D’Laney Bowry, Development & Grants Associate

Michael Crawford, Facilities Manager

Isaiah Cuffey, Preparatory School Program Manager

Lydia Falcon, After-School Programs Associate

Erin Fender, Marketing & Social Media Manager

Dennis Freeman, Van Driver

Miriam Huppert, Director of College & Career Services

Breanna Johnson, Director of Choral Programs

Liesl McWhorter, Interim Youth Orchestras Program Associate

Aisha Moody, Co-Founder & Chief Program Officer

José L. Morales, Interim Marketing & Development Assoicate

Ron Pace, Finance Manager

Nassareen Rahman, Van Driver

Dantes Rameau, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Winston Savoy, Interim Program Operations Associate

Amber Smith, Associate Director of AMP Academy

Lauren Spence, Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer

Jack W. Wagner, Associate Director of Grants

Atlanta Music Project Youth ORchestra Winds

Logan Souther, Conductor

Sweet Georgia Brown.................................................................................................arr. Paul Murtha Of Time and Change...............................................................................................James Swearingen

Atlanta Music Project Junior Youth Orchestra Strings

Logan Souther, Conductor A Beethoven Lullaby: Air on Ode to Joy..................................................................arr. Brian Balmages

Theme from Havanaise........................................................................................Camille Saint-Saens arr.

Atlanta Music Project Junior Youth Orchestra II

Logan Souther, Conductor

Themes from Leroy Anderson’s “Irish Suite, Part 2”...................................................Leroy Anderson arr. Douglas E. Wagner

Atlanta Music Project Junior Youth Orchestra & Youth Choir

Logan Souther, Conductor I Dream A World........................................................................................................Rollo A. Dilworth

Atlanta Music Project Senior Youth Orchestra Strings John Concklin, Conductor

Visions of the Sky.............................................................................................................Adrian Sims

Serenade for Strings, II...............................................................................................Antonín

Atlanta Music Project Senior Youth Orchestra

John Concklin, Conductor

Pirates of the Caribbean.................................................................................................Klaus Badelt arr. Ted Ricketts

Atlanta Music Project Junior Youth Choir

Pamela Dillard, Conductor Eli Manos, Collaborative Pianist

Soloists: Aiyé Banks, Octavia Dickerson, Jessica Leggins If You’re

Soloists: Zenobiah Arif, Da’janel Chatmon, Araeia Collins, Nia Colton, Ta’Kari Tatum

Project Senior Youth Choir

Tammy Harper, Collaborative Pianist Jack W. Wagner, Collaborative Pianist

What Do the Stars Do?

Words by Christina Rossetti (1830-1984)

What Do the Stars Do?

What do the stars do Up in the sky, Higher than the wind can blow, Or the clouds can fly?

Each star in its own glory Circles, circles still; As it was lit to shine and set, And do its Maker’s Will.

JAM! (Jom - Ayuh - Mari!)

Translation:

Jom, ayuh, and mari all have similar meanings - “come, let’s go!”

Dies Irae

Translation:

Dies iræ, dies illa

Solvet sæclum in favilla, Teste David cum Sibylla.

Mors stupebit et natura, Cum resurget creatura, Judicanti responsura.

Recordare, Jesu pie, Quod sum causa tuæ viæ: Ne me perdas illa die.

Dies iræ, dies illa

Solvet sæclum in favilla, Teste David cum Sibylla.

Day of wrath and doom impending. David’s word with Sibyl’s blending, Heaven and earth in ashes ending.

Death is struck, and nature quaking, All creation is awaking, To its Judge an answer making.

Think, kind Jesu! – my salvation Caused Thy wondrous Incarnation; Leave me not to reprobation.

Day of wrath and doom impending. David’s word with Sibyl’s blending, Heaven and earth in ashes ending.

Holding the Light

Words by Staurt Kestenbaum (1953 - )

Gather up whatever is glittering in the gutter, whatever has tumbled in the waves or fallen in flames out of the sky,

for it’s not only our hearts that are broken, but the heart of the world as well. Stitch it back together.

Make a place where the day speaks to the night and the earth speaks to the sky. Whether we created God or God created us it all comes down to this: In our imperfect world we are meant to repair and stitch together what beauty there is, stitch it

with compassion and wire. See how everything we have made gathers the light inside itself and overflows? A blessing.

Atlanta Music Project CONductors

B.E. Boykin AMP Senior Youth Choir

B.E. (Brittney Elizabeth) Boykin is a native of Alexandria, Virginia and comes from a musical family. At the age of 7, she began piano lessons and continued her studies through high school under the tutelage of Mrs. Alma Sanford. Mrs. Sanford guided her through various competitions, such as the NAACP’s ACT-SO competition where she garnered 1st place for 3 consecutive years in the local competition, as well as being awarded The Washington Post “Music and Dance Award” in the spring of 2007.

Boykin then pursued her classical piano studies at Spelman College under the leadership of Dr. Rachel Chung. After graduating Spelman College in 2011 with a B.A. in Music, Boykin continued her studies at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. During her time at Westminster, she was awarded the R and R Young Composition Prize just a few months shy of graduating with her M.M. in Sacred Music with a concentration in choral studies in May, 2013.

Boykin’s choral piece, “We Sing as One,” was commissioned to celebrate Spelman College’s 133rd Anniversary of its founding at the 2014 Founders Day Convocation. She has also been featured as the conductor/composer-in-residence for the 2017 Harry T. Burleigh Commemorative Spiritual Festival at Tennessee State University. Boykin has been commissioned and collaborated with several organizations, including a number of ACDA divisions, the Minnesota Opera and the Kennedy Center. She obtained her Ph.D. from Georgia State University with an emphasis in Music Education and is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Pamela dillard AMP Junior Youth Choir

Mezzo-Soprano, Pamela Dillard, a native Atlantan, performs frequently on concert stages, recitals, oratorio, and operas in Atlanta, Augusta, and Florida. Pamela was a featured artist on the concert “Sisters in Song” performing with Atlanta’s leading female song stylists, celebrating America’s Jazz Divas. She is a Professor of Voice at Spelman College, a board member of Capitol City Opera Company of Atlanta, and a member of National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. where she serves as a national board member. Pamela made her debut with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, returning the following year to sing the title role in Bizet’s Carmen. She has appeared on the stages of several American opera companies and orchestras including, Atlanta Opera, Opera Carolina, Opera Columbus, Tulsa Opera and Boston, Saint Louis, Colorado, New Haven, and Cobb Symphony Orchestras and The Brooklyn Philharmonic among others. Pamela performed internationally with L’Opéra-Comique of Paris, France as Lily Holmes in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in Paris, Normandi, Luxembourg, and Spain. She has sung under the baton of many of the world’s greatest conductors, some of which are Robert Spano, Donald Runnicles, Keith Lockhart, Yoel Levi, John Williams, Wayne Marshall, and David Morrow.

Earning her B.F.A. from Newcomb College of Tulane University, Pamela was a recipient of the M.L. King Graduate Fellowship at Boston University where she received a Master of Music. Her recordings include, Watch and Pray, Spirituals and Art Songs by African American Women Composers and Grant Still’s Highway One both for Videmus. She is the featured artist on the Grammy nominated soundtrack to Stephen Spielberg’s Amistad.

Atlanta Music Project conductors

John Shik young concklin AMP Senior Youth Orchestra

John Young Shik Concklin is Music Director of the Spartanburg Philharmonic and Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as Conductor with the Atlanta Music Project and Piedmont Chamber Orchestra. For the 2023/24 season, he is also a Music Director Finalist with the Walla Walla Symphony in Washington State.

John has been a finalist for the 2019-2020 American Prize in Conducting. He has competed internationally at the Almaty, the Nino Rota, and the Città di Brescia Conducting Competitions. He is also regularly invited to cover-conduct for the the Nashville, Atlanta, and Kansas City Symphony Orchestras.

Previous positions include Associate Conductor of the Georgia Symphony, Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, and faculty appointments at Vanderbilt, Clemson, Furman and Converse Universities He has been a fellowship conductor at the

Aspen Music Festival, a teaching assistant at the Brevard Music Center, and a finalist at the New World Symphony and Debut Orchestras.

John Young Shik Concklin is Music Director of the Spartanburg Philharmonic and Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as Conductor with the Atlanta Music Project and Piedmont Chamber Orchestra. For the 2023/24 season, he is also a Music Director Finalist with the Walla Walla Symphony in Washington State.

John has been a finalist for the 2019-2020 American Prize in Conducting. He has competed internationally at the Almaty, the Nino Rota, and the Città di Brescia Conducting Competitions. He is also regularly invited to cover-conduct for the the Nashville, Atlanta, and Kansas City Symphony Orchestras.

Logan souther AMP Junior Youth Orchestra

Logan Souther is quickly developing a reputation as an orchestra conductor and pianist of significant talent with a serious approach to music in Atlanta, Georgia. A gifted conductor of the operatic repertoire, Logan has served on the music staff of the Sarasota Opera, Atlanta Opera, OperaNEO (San Diego), The Harrower Summer Opera Workshop, The Augusta Opera Initiative, and for several years was the music director and principal conductor for the Georgia State University Opera Theatre. While leading the GSU Opera Theatre Logan consistently raised artistic standards among singers and instrumentalists alike while performing reperoite that ranged from Mozart to Stephen Paulus.

Logan has served as a recurring guest conductor with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and for two seasons was the assistant conductor for the Bellingham Festival of Music, the premiere orchestral festival of the Pacific Northwest. Logan is the associate conductor of The Hamptons Festival of Music, where he also serves as artistic director of the THFM Salon Series community outreach programs An engaging arts entrepreneur, at the age of 19 Logan founded the Gainesville Sinfonietta where he was fully responsible for all levels of production and successfully mobilized funding for the Sinfonietta each year. The Gainesville Sinfonietta was a fully professional orchestra which performed free concerts each year for the North Georgia community.

Logan began intensive studies in orchestral at the age of 15 with Michael Palmer with whom he went on to study with at Georgia State University completing a Master’s in Orchestral Conducting (2017) and a Bachelor’s in Piano Performance (2016.) Additional teacher’s include Dwight Oltman and David Effron.

Atlanta Music Project YOUTH ORCHESTRAS

Atlanta Music Project Youth ORchestra Winds

Flute

Otis Stone

Hailey Haye

French Horn

Preston Harris

*Ethan Atkinson

++Dilon Bryan

*Arlet Tabares

Trumpet

Moziah Jabari

Asher Bryant

Jacob Inthasone

++Aiken Del Aguila

++Douglas Escobar

Oboe

Nehemiah Preston Clarinet

Samuel Leyimu

Adrianne Johnson

Skylar Edwards

Trombone

Spencer Branch

Joel Patrick

+Julian Hudson

Tuba

Christian Ramos

++Bernard Flythe

Percussion

Dave Anderson

*Noah Burgess

++Alek Gayton

+Katie Lawrence

++Dominic Ryder

+TJ Shaheen

Atlanta Music Project Junior Youth ORchestra

Violin I

Foster Wilson

Paris Adams

Elly Jabari

Liyana Ameen

Ethan Waithe

Isaac Collier

Malia White

Ethan Ezzard

Larry Parson Jr.

Violin II

Autumn Inman

Amari Slaton

Aaliyah Breaux

Dulce Tapia

Paytience Wilson

Hephzibah Akinmowo

Ta’Kari Tatum

Chenzira Hardy

Na’ima Shabazz

Viola

Tristan Legette

Raelan Robinson

Alauna Armstead

Colony Calhoun

Amira Gaines

Cello

Elaysia McMillan

Bena-Nsilu Tiya

Julianna Moronta

Sanaa Slaton

Preston Walton

Double Bass

Lourdess Culpatrick

Brandon Mines

Xavier Francois

Atlanta Music Project senior Youth ORchestra

Violin I

Vincent Schubert

Asha White

Miriam Needham

Azza Obeng

Gabrielle Hemming

Anaya Ricketts

*Music Major

+Professional Musician

++AMP Faculty

Violin II

Marlee Carter

Elena Alejandro

Koa Edwards

Chloe Felton

Caliah Matamoros

Jackson Betts

Viola

Joshua Croom

Nicholas Doyle

Kree Willingham

Vivian Dolensky

Jeremiah Holt

Cello

Sage Mae Lima-Jeffries

David Walton

Priya Gingrich

Vinny Montague

Virika Earl

Faith Clark

Kendel Felton

Carson Williams

Yahsia Jabari

Double Bass

Yusef Henry

Brooklyn Chaney

Atlanta Music Project JUNIOR YOUTH CHOIR

Soprano

Zenobiah Arif

Da’janel Chatmon

Araeia Collins

Keziah Hadley

Cheyenne Harris

Mikaila Haynes

Elouise Hunt

Lauren Hunter

Jayla Jacobs

Lily Joyner

Jessica Leggins

Mia Mclennon

Timotheous McGuire Jr.

Nelina Thomas

Milan Russell

Skylar Whitaker

Celeste Banks

Nia Colton

Thais El-Amin

Makaylah Owens-Cook

Myrielle Rackley

Reagyn Requena

Laila Smith

Alena Wall

Aiyé Banks

Jonah Banks

Joshua Banks

Octavia Dickerson

Preston Harris

Samaira Jackson

Ta’Kari Tatum

Atlanta Music Project SENIOR YOUTH CHOIR

Neilah Bell

Destiny Brown

Tatiana Dickerson

Bailey Mines

Coco Perkins

Taylor Pollock

Nailah Ruffin

Rachel Walker

Sasha Williams

Aria Armstead

Janaé Banks

Beyuti Burrows

Chloe Collier

Ariel Crumbley

Yahsia Jabari

Eden Kearse

River Kearse

Sage Mae Lima-Jeffries

Shana Liverpool

Amaya Paylor

Makyla Platt

Destiny Sutton

Maya Winfrey

Tyaire Charles

Raja Green-Hornes

Mike Leon Martinez

Vinny Montague

Connor Sample

Alexander Beaty

Isaac Collier

Dalin Davis

Elijah Stephens

Jonah Stowers

Caleb Vaughn

Atlanta Music Project Rhythm Band

++Alek Gayton, drum set Ray Ransom, bass

*Music Major

+Professional Musician

++AMP Faculty

Alto

Soprano

Alto Tenor Bass

Baritone

the atlanta music project mission and history

Founded in 2010, the Atlanta Music Project (AMP) provides world-class music training and performance opportunities supporting youth growth and development. Operating in underresourced communities, AMP’s mission is to empower youth to realize their possibilities through music. AMP serves 700 young musicians annually through: beginner-level choir, band and orchestra through the AMP Preparatory School; the intermediate and advanced AMP Youth Orchestras & Choirs; private instrumental and vocal lessons through the AMP Academy; and the annual monthlong AMP Summer Series. Additionally, AMP runs a college and career program, supporting AMP high school students and AMP alumni. Since 2021, AMP has awarded 70 college scholarships to its alumni, totaling $306,375.

AMP music ensembles perform more than 60 concerts annually, performing in venues all across Atlanta, from community centers to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. AMP music ensembles have performed alongside international stars such as cellist Sterling Elliott, rapper Lecrae, operatic baritone Edward Parks, R&B singer Monica, The Piano Guys, the Harlem Quartet, electric violinist Lindsey Stirling, pianist Terrence Wilson, and the Imani Winds. AMP musicians can be seen performing with rapper T.I. on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series. AMP’s young musicians have successfully auditioned for Georgia All-State ensembles, performed with the Atlanta Opera and the Atlanta Ballet, and have concertized as far away as Los Angeles, Aspen, Mexico City, and Scotland.

AMP is the recipient of several prestigious awards: 2015 Local Community Service Award (Spelman College), 2016 Neighborhood Builder (Bank of America), 2016 & 2017 Top 50 Youth Arts Program (USA President’s Committee on the Arts & Humanities), 2018 MLK Jr. Community Service Award (Emory University), 2019 Luminary Award for Arts Education (ArtsATL), and 2021 Infusion Award (Lewis Prize for Music).

AMP’s existence is a direct result of the 2009 TED Prize, which was awarded to Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu, founder of Venezuela’s El Sistema. AMP’s co-founders were members of the Sistema Fellows Program at the New England Conservatory in Boston. AMP is a member of “El Sistema USA,” the National Alliance of El Sistema Inspired Programs.

In 2024, AMP became the recipient of five Steinway pianos and was awareded the prestigous honor of being a Steinway Select School, making AMP one of eight schools in the country with this distinction.

The Atlanta Music Project believes the pursuit of musical excellence leads to the development of confidence, creativity and ambition, bringing together youth, family and community for the greater good.

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