Volume 9, Number 3, August 2017
Keeping Tempo YOBC to Present Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony
Inside this issue: YOBC Board Approves New Strategic Plan
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Executive Director’s Corner: One More Dot to Connect
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Student Spotlight: Catie Smith
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YOBC Students Keep Busy During Summer Vacation YOBC to Embark on International Tour to Andalusia July 2018
Important Dates:
September 9 — Orientations & Curtain-Raiser Activities
September 10 — All YOBC Rehearsals Begin
September 17— Parents’ meetings 2:15 & 5:00 PM
September 24 — Tour meeting for parents; deadline to join the tour September 25
October 8–22— PracticeA-Thon
November 17–18 — Fall Concerts
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As YOBC launches the 2017–18 season, there are some exciting opportunities ahead. Once again, Philadelphia Orchestra musicians will offer master classes, including another violin master class with concertmaster David Kim in February. Additional instruments and dates are still forthcoming. In March 2018, Jennifer Montone, principal horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra, who presented a master class last season, will join YOBC’s Symphony Orchestra as a special guest artist. They will perform the Richard Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1 at Delaware Valley University’s Life Sciences Auditorium. In fact, all three YOBC Symphony and Fanfare Winds concerts will be held at DVU this season. The highlight of the season will be a YOBC first —a presentation of the complete Symphony No. 5 by composer Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky. The symphony will be performed by the YOBC Symphony Orchestra at their concert on April 29. Famous for its
ingenious use of a “fate” theme, according to program notes for the Philadelphia Orchestra performance, “Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony progresses from a somber beginning to an uplifting, triumphant march in the final movement.” It has also been described as an “exciting roller-coaster ride.” According to Classic FM, “[w]ith his fifth symphony,...Tchaikovsky yet again demonstrated why he was one of the romantic era's finest composers. ...Sadly, the reaction to the four-movement Symphony No. 5 was, at best, muted. Tchaikovsky felt incredibly dejected, even going so far as to distance himself from it for quite some time.” Nevertheless the symphony has regained its popularity and is now considered “one of his most loved largescale creations.” A notable performance was by the Leningrad Radio Or-
chestra during the Siege of Leningrad when city leaders ordered the orchestra to play to keep spirits high. On the night in question they played Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and the performance was broadcast live to London. As the second movement began, bombs started to fall nearby, but the orchestra continued playing until the final note. The symphony is now one of the composer’s most popular works. The second movement, in particular, is considered to be classic Tchaikovsky: well crafted, colorfully orchestrated, and with a memorable melody for solo horn which will be performed by YOBC principal horn, Jordan Spivack.
YOBC Board Approves New Strategic Plan In June 2017, YOBC’s Board of Directors approved a new five-year strategic plan to guide the organization into its next quarter century. An earlier plan that went into effect in 2010 helped YOBC focus on improving its programs, infrastructure, and outreach, and achieved nearly 80 percent of its goals. The new plan reaffirms YOBC’s values: Artistic excellence as achievable for each ensemble. Teamwork among staff, participants, and volunteers. Providing a nurturing, respectful, and enjoyable environment that supports all participants. Challenging all participants to strive to maximize their musical development and personal growth.
The promotion of service to others through individual and collective efforts. The strategic plan also recognizes the following as YOBC’s key areas of organizational focus: Core YOBC ensembles. Special music programs for core ensembles. Students-in-Concert. Personnel. Facilities and infrastructure. Marketing and awareness of YOBC. The strategic plan is available in
its entirety on the YOBC website under About YOBC. YOBC’s Directors thank Dawn Karlyn who recently stepped down as YOBC Treasurer. We appreciate her many years of service to the Board. The Board also welcomed new members Peter Eisengrein, Terri Grace, and Grant Hunter.
Executive Director’s Corner: One More Dot to Connect It is August, and many of us are beginning the perennial pivot from the less stressful, improvisational days of summer to the more heavily structured, fully scheduled, back-to-school season. Although it is still summer, we are beckoned home from our excursions by signs of the approaching September. Preparations for the transition are upon us. Supplies must be purchased, summer assignments must be completed, and deadlines must be met. As parents, we willingly embrace the busy schedules that lie before us because we want to support and encourage our children to participate in activities that will help to prepare them for life. And music is an activity which has been shown to have an incredible impact on a child’s life. The study of music stimulates creativity, develops critical thinking and listening, encourages perseverance, teaches essential life skills, and builds confidence. The Page 2
lessons and skills learned in musicmaking transfer to other areas of study and there is a strong association between the study of music and improved academic performance and test scores.
The best part of music is that it is also incredibly fun and rewarding. So, we connect those dots. Music. Life-skills. Better grades. Strong resumes. College. But don’t stop here! Yes, the study of music brings these incredibly rich benefits, but here is the best thing: In addition to, perhaps even in spite of, these benefits, the best part of music is that it is also incredibly fun and rewarding. And kids can reap all these benefits now, while they are young, as well as much
later in life. In fact, it is possible to be a musician and continue to reap the benefits of music-making throughout life, into your eighties and beyond. My mother-in-law, Agnes, is a lifelong musician. She is 89 years old but continues to play French horn in bands and orchestras. She moves a little slower, uses a pillow to cushion her leg, and wears very thick glasses to see her music, but the demands and joy of music performance continue to enrich her life. So heads-up, parents! Here is one more dot for you to connect. The time, energy, and financial resources you are investing in your children today will have a very good return. The artistic, thinking, and life-skills children learn through the study of music, along with the enjoyment they experience, have the potential to shape and enrich their entire lives. —Colleen Sweetsir YOBC Executive Director Keeping Tempo
tudent
potlight: Catie Smith
Catie Smith is a 10th grader at Pennsbury High School, and a long-time member of YOBC. This year Catie will be playing trombone in Wind Ensemble and Philharmonia. She has played piano since she was 3, violin since she was 5, and trombone starting at age 10. Catie’s mom taught her how to play piano and then found Cyndee Lee Rule, who taught Catie the basics of the violin. As for the trombone, Catie says, “I saw it at some of the band concerts and thought, ‘that looks like a pretty cool instrument.’ ” She first studied trombone with Joe Doris, who teaches in the Pennsbury School District, and she currently studies with Patrick McIsaac, who is a conservatory-trained musician, and a YOBC alumnus. “I found a lot of similarities between the violin and trombone,” Catie says. “I especially like that you have to ‘find’ the note on each instrument, but in different ways.” Catie learned about YOBC from Ms. Rule, her first violin teacher. Catie was a member of one of the original Prima Strings ensembles. “I think that makes this upcoming year my eighth with YOBC.” On the violin she has played with Prima Strings, Concertino, Ripieno, Philharmonia, and Symphony. This year, Catie says, “I am excited to be a part of the Wind Ensemble and Philharmonia. It will be my first year playing trombone with YOBC. “I love that YOBC has so many opportunities to play so many instruments,” Catie adds. “And having the opportunity to play with other student musicians is great, but YOBC has also given me the opportunity to participate in master classes with great musicians from Curtis and also the amazing David Volume 9, Number 3, August 2017
Kim, among others. Then there were those amazing concert experiences with Mark O’Connor and, of course, Chris Brubeck.” In addition to YOBC, Catie also played both violin and trombone with Pennsbury ensembles last year. “This year,” she says, “I am going to focus on trombone at school. I will continue to work on violin and play both instruments during worship services at my church, where I also sing in the choir.” Catie is working with her brother, YOBC alumnus Noah Smith, on a trombone/double bass concerto for church later this year. “It’s fun to find new pieces for the trombone,” she explains Catie plans to continue to play both instruments “and a little piano, too, just for fun.” Meanwhile, she is starting to think about what she’ll do after high school. “While college is pretty much a given,” she says, “I’m not 100% sure what I will study or where I will go.” Right now, Catie is really interested in agricultural technology, “in particular food safety and protected growing,” which may lead her to schools like University of California, Davis or California Polytechnic State University. She is also interested environmental engineering. Besides music, Catie is accomplished is other arenas. She has been a Girl Scout for six years and just last year completed her Silver Award, providing fresh produce for her church’s food pantry. “I am still figuring out my Gold Award,” she adds. She has also been a day camp counselor for the past three years. In addition, Catie is a competitive gymnast and a member of the Arena Gymnastics JOGA program. She will participate at Level 2 this year. She says, “We have won the state championship two of the last three years and I’m hoping we win it again this year!”
Save the Date
SWING, SWING, SWING 1940s Swing Dance Party to Benefit the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County February 10, 2018 New Hope Winery 6:00 pm
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YOBC Students Keep Busy During Summer Vacation Whether traveling overseas or staying at home, performing music or engaging in sports, YOBC students are always busy. Here’s a sampling of what a few of them have been up to this summer.
The Sights of Santorini When our ferry arrived at Santorini from Crete, we immediately were stunned by the glistening blue water surrounding the island. The seawater sparkled in front of the impressively tall mountains. The mountains themselves looked very narrow and jagged, seemingly impossible to build on. To get up to Thira, the town where we were staying, we needed to take a cable car, a bus, or a taxi from the base of the mountains. We took a taxi. As the taxi was taking us up to the top, the road would curve and follow the sides of mountains, usually with only a small, two-foot stone wall as a barrier between the road and the sea! The wall, however, gave us a perfect view of the Sea of Crete. The town of Thira had many bright, white houses. The old part of town had narrow streets made of cobblestone. In the modern part of town, the buildings were more like structures built nowadays in the United States, and the streets were paved over with asphalt. On one of the days we took a hike from Thira to Oia, a town near the tip of Santorini. It took four hours but was worth it because of the amazing sights we saw as we were hiking in the mountains. Tourists like ourselves seemed to overwhelm the island, with each town swarming with people not native to Santorini. Languages ranging from English, French, German, Spanish, Greek, et cetera, were all fluently spoken everywhere. The amount of tourists was expected to triple later in the summer! We had come at just the right time. Overall, my family and I had a wonderful time in Santorini, and cannot wait to return and visit other Greek islands. —Eric Burton Cello, Ripieno Page 4
Summer Stock Hi, I’m Alyssa Loudon and I am new to YOBC starting this September. I will be playing clarinet in the Wind Symphony. I’m looking forward to meeting new people who share my passion for music. This summer I enjoyed the Neshaminy Summer Stock program. We put on the musical Peter Pan Jr. and I was excited to be a Lost Boy. It’s incredible to be part of this show and to be surrounded by so many talented kids. The instructors were amazing. We put the show together in less than three weeks! My favorite songs from the show are “Neverland,” “I’m Flying,” and “Tender Shepherd.” My favorite dances are to the songs “I Won’t Grow Up” and “Ugh-A-Wug.” I also went to see the older kids’ Summer Stock show, Anything Goes, because my private clarinet teacher, Mr. Krelove, played in the pit orchestra. In August I’m taking my first trip out of the country with my family to Niagara Falls, Canada. We are staying for a week and have a lot of interesting things planned. I also spent a weekend away in June at karate camp training hard for my black belt. I went with a bunch of girls from my karate stu-
dio and we had a lot of fun. I’ve been practicing Tang Soo Doo for over four years and I’m expecting to get my black belt at the end of the summer. I have to pass both a written test and a physical test to get my black belt, and there were all kinds of requirements I had to complete all summer long. —Alyssa Loudon Clarinet, Wind Symphony
Keeping Tempo
Suzuki Piano Institute Like many YOBC students, Patrick Crotty, a new Prima Strings violinist, plays multiple instruments. This summer he took part in the Suzuki Piano Institute at the University of Louisville.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (left, with YOBC Board President Paul Clough) attended the 25th Anniversary Gala in May and presented YOBC with a US House of Representatives certificate recognizing the organization for “25 Years of Enriching the Lives of Young Musicians in Bucks County.”
Local HS String Quartet to Join Touring Beatles vs. Stones Show When the touring show “Beatles vs. Stones – A Musical Showdown” comes to the Keswick Theatre on August 18, the Central Bucks West High School String Quartet will have the privilege of joining the professional musicians on stage to add some orchestral texture to the evening. YOBC Symphony Orchestra violinist Audrie Przybylski is a member of that quartet. Audrie is also one of the winners of YOBC’s 2017 Concerto Soloist Competition. “Beatles vs. Stones” pits Rolling Stones tribute band Satisfaction against rival Brit boys Abbey Road in an all-out musical showdown for rock dominance. The string quartet will perform seven songs with the bands. The producers of “Beatles vs. Stones” approached Central Bucks West High School Orchestra Conductor Scott Hensil looking for a talented ensemble that could hold its own with a rock band in front of an audience. The Volume 9, Number 3, August 2017
Audrie Przybylski (second from left) and members of the Central Bucks West string quartet will perform at the Keswick Theatre this month.
show commonly uses a local quartet to augment the production while on tour. “Beatles vs. Stones – A Musical Showdown” will be performed on Friday, August 18 at the Keswick Theatre at 8:00 PM. Tickets
are $35–$55, and are available online at www.keswicktheatre.com, by phone at 215-572-7650, or at the Theatre Box Office, 291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, PA 19038. The show is appropriate for all ages. Page 5
70 Canoebirch Road Levittown, PA 19057 Email: info.yobc@gmail.com
yobc.org
The YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF BUCKS COUNTY, Pennsylvania (Y OBC) was founded in 1991 with the spo nsorship and support of Bucks County Co mmunity College. Its mission is to create opportunities for young musicians to achiev e artistic excellence through enriching classical musical experiences. In 26 season s the organization has served over 1800 you ng musicians.
YOBC to Embark on International Tour to Andalusia July 2018 In July 2018 a YOBC tour ensemble will travel to Andalusia in southern Spain. The tour is nearly sold out, but musicians can still apply by the September 25 deadline. Students in the Advanced Division (Wind Ensemble, Philharmonia, Fanfare Winds, and Symphony Orchestra) are eligible. Adults interested in the tour can apply but will be placed on a wait list. The tour directors, Monica & Gerardo Konig, have just returned from their preview tour to select performance venues, side trips, and accommodations. Details will be finalized over the fall and winter months. Whether it’s the beaches on the Spanish Costa del Sol, the extravagant Moorish architecture, or Don Quixote’s windmills, Andalusia offers something for everyone. Learn more about tourism in Spain at #SpainInDetail. Learn more about YOBC’s tour at www.yobc.org (log in required). Page 6
Keeping Tempo