Volume 8, Number 2, December 2016
Inside this issue: Horn Master Class with Phila Orchestra’s Jennifer Montone
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Dayle Magida’s Music Studio Rated “Best of Bucks” 2016
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Student Spotlight: Billy Young
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Executive Director’s Corner: Music Comes Alive
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Successful Fundraising Efforts Benefit All YOBC Students
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Important Dates:
January 7: Winter Dreams & Musical Memories, Alumni Party January 8: YOBC spring rehearsals begin January 22: 2018 International Tour Parent Meeting February 4: Chamber Recital, Cairn University February 5: French horn master class with Jennifer Montone February 25: Violin master class with David Kim
March 3: Chris Brubeck master class
April 1–2: Spring concerts, Maple Point Middle School
April 29 & May 6: New Auditions
May 21: 25th Anniversary Gala Concert, Patriots Theater, Trenton War
Keeping Tempo
YOBC Announces New Advisory Board; New SIC Program Launched in Bristol Borough As YOBC celebrates its 25th anniversary season, it is pleased to announce a new Advisory Board to help plan for the organization's future. With expertise in the fields of music, education, social work, law, and business, the distinguished new Advisory Board brings a diverse set of skills and backgrounds to YOBC and will serve as an invaluable resource in the organization's preparation of a new five-year strategic plan. Since it was formed in 1991, YOBC has grown from one ensemble and 60 student musicians to two full orchestras and 15 ensembles comprising nearly 300 students, ages 8 to 18. With this tremendous growth come both opportunities and challenges. An inaugural meeting of the new Board was held in November, and the new group expects to meet twice a year. Many of the new Advisory Board Members weighed in on YOBC’s
Members of YOBC’s new Advisory Board include: (top, l to r) Joseph Conyers, Philadelphia Orchestra & Project 440; Denise Bowman, Hill Wallack LLP; Daniel Berkowitz, Philadelphia Orchestra; Quincy Hilliard, Louisiana State University; (bottom l to r) Ted Dorand, PECO; Don Liuzzi, Philadelphia Orchestra; Troy Peters, Youth Orchestras of San Antonio; Dianne Marseglia, Bucks County Commissioners Office.
philanthropic outreach efforts. Students in Concert (SIC) has expanded to a third school district with a new band program in Bristol Borough. As in Bristol Township, where it is in its fifth year of operation, SIC will provide free after-school music lessons to support music education in the district. A string program has also started its first full year in the Morrisville School District.
Approximately 75 students are currently taking part in one of the three SIC programs this year. Morrisville students recently presented a holiday recital featuring the string musicians. Funding for SIC is provided by private donors and the Bucks County Commissioners, as well as corporate partners including Comcast, PECO, and Lower Bucks Hospital.
Horn Master Class with Phila Orchestra’s Jennifer Montone On February 5, YOBC French horn students will have the opportunity to attend a Master Class offered by Jennifer Montone, principal horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Ms. Montone, a Grammy Award winner, has been recognized by the New York Times for her “flawless horn solos … and warm and noble sound.” Ms. Montone joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2006. She is also a world-acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, and has served on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School. She was the principal horn of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2006. Formerly associate principal of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, she was an adjunct professor
at Southern Methodist University and a faculty performer at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 2005 to 2009. Ms. Montone is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where she was a student of Julie Landsman. A native of northern Virginia, she studied with Edwin Thayer in the National Symphony Orchestra Youth Fellowship Program and was a fellow in the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. All YOBC French horn students and a number of registered guests will attend the Master Class. Ms. Montone is looking forward to working with five YOBC students who will perform at the event. “It is such a pleasure to have the opportunity to perform with and coach the musicians of
Jennifer Montone—Photo: Jessica Griffin
YOBC,” she said. “We are all so fortunate to get to do what we love, and I’m always excited to work with this level of serious and talented young artists, and to get into some nitty gritty details of musical and brass pedagogy!”
Dayle Magida’s Music Studio Rated “Best of Bucks” 2016 Every year the Bucks County Courier Times gives their readers, as well as other people in the Bucks County community, an opportunity to vote for their favorite businesses, products, and services. I am very excited to have won this year for the first time in the category of “Best Music Instruction
YOBC alumna Dayle Magida and her student Thomas Manning who plays in YOBC’s Wind Symphony.
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2016.” I really appreciate all my wonderful students and their parents who voted for me! I am the owner of Dayle Music—www.daylemusic.com—a business that provides music programs to schools, libraries, and community centers in the area. In addition to this, I perform locally and also stay active with YOBC by helping with social media, marketing, and sectional instruction. I am also a private music instructor, and I teach between 40 to 50 private students a week on saxophone, piano, clarinet, and flute, in my home studio located in Richboro. When I was younger, I was a member of the YOBC as well as a YOBC concerto soloist. Many of my current students are now musicians in YOBC. In the picture on the left, I am with one of my students, Thomas Manning, an eighth grader who attends Newtown Middle School. Thomas has been taking lessons with me for over three years and he joined
YOBC this year as a tenor sax player in the Wind Symphony. I am extremely proud of Thomas, who is making excellent progress on his instrument. I encouraged Thomas, as well as my other qualified private students to audition for YOBC. I believe that participation in YOBC, in addition to private lessons, is the best way for my students to reach their greatest potential and obtain the highest level of musicianship. I feel very lucky that I have a career that allows me to be involved every day with what I love the most—music! I would be happy to speak to any YOBC members or alumni who would be interested in getting their own music business started. Feel free to contact me at: daylemusic11@gmail.com. —Dayle Magida Dayle Magida was a member of YOBC’s Wind Ensemble and a concerto soloist during the 2007–08 season. She currently works as YOBC’s Social Media Coordinator.
Keeping Tempo
tudent
potlight: Billy Young
Billy Young is a senior in YOBC’s Fanfare Winds and Saxophone Ensembles. He will graduate this spring from Pennsbury High School where he is the saxophone section leader in the Pennsbury Marching Band and Symphonic Winds. Billy discovered the alto saxophone in third grade when the PHS Jazz Band played a special concert for the elementary school students. He said, “The saxes were in the front row, so I couldn't keep my eye off them—literally!” After school, he begged his mom to rent a saxophone from a nearby music store, where he still takes lessons today. “I love how versatile the saxophone is and how it seems to fit so easily into all sorts of music,” Billy added. He studies the tenor and soprano saxophones and began playing flute in the 8th grade. His fourth-grade band instructor suggested that Billy audition
for YOBC. He says he was pretty reluctant to join at first. “The music given to me was extremely intimidating, typically being performed at a middle or high school level. I actually remember crying before the first rehearsal! Still, I have no doubt that my first years at YOBC helped me gain an advanced understanding of the saxophone very quickly.” Outside of school, Billy plays jazz-fusion and funk music in his spare time and hopes to record a CD in college. Last March, he performed with the PMEA All-State and Region VI bands, and he currently sits as a student musician in the Pennsbury Community Band. Billy intends to major in econometrics, statistics, or information systems in college and later earn a Master of Business Administration. His top college choices are the Penn State Schreyer Honors College and
Billy Young
Princeton University. But music will still be part of his life. “I plan to continue playing the saxophone in college and beyond,” he says. “I can't imagine what music would be like without YOBC. Thank you for the wonderful memories and opportunities!”
Executive Director’s Corner: Music Comes Alive Over the past few weeks, I’ve been listening online to a particular piece of music. The recording is awesome, but at one point, the solo trumpet player just nicks a note. It is a tiny, almost unperceivable mistake but it jars me each time I hear it. I have listened to the recording many times, and surprisingly, each time the music approaches the part where the mistake occurs, I tense up and unconsciously think, “Maybe he won’t miss it this time.” Of course, he always does miss the note and I end up laughing at myself for expecting that anything different might occur. It is, after all, a recording. It will always sound the same. Listening to recordings is enjoyable, but it is a very different experience from attending a live
Volume 8, Number 2, December 2016
performance. This is because, at its very heart, music is communication. When we listen to a recording we react to what we hear, but we cannot influence or change that performance in any way. But participating in a live concert involves interaction between the performers and the audience. Communication is two-way, allowing both musicians and audience members to respond to and influence each other and the performance. In a live performance, the presence and response of the audience inspires and informs the performance of the musicians. Musicians can feel the excitement of the audience. This encourages musicians to be in the moment, to take chances and to aspire to greater artistry. In turn, the ex-
citement and energy of a performance can encourage audience members to engage in the music on a very emotional level. The interaction of musicians and audience in this way can be electric at times, allowing both performers and audience members to fully engage in and influence the performance. It is an experience like no other. The holiday season abounds with concerts and musical performances of all types. This year, help make music come alive for you and your family by experiencing a live performance together. From everyone at YOBC, we wish you and your family a very happy holiday season! —Colleen Sweetsir YOBC Executive Director Page 3
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 25 season s the organization has grown from a single , 60-member ensemble to 16 ensembles wi th over 275 young musicians.
YOBC’s 25th Anniversary Season sponsored in part by:
Successful Fundraising Efforts Benefit All YOBC Students We are grateful to the YOBC community which has contributed over $11,000 to support two important fundraising efforts this fall. In October YOBC held its annual Practice-A-Thon—its most successful ever. Students practiced a total of 72,892 minutes over 15 days and raised nearly $8700 for YOBC programs and scholarships. The top practicers were Nala Ashanti (3,264 minutes) and
Wyatt Menci (2,400 minutes). Nala and Wyatt each play two instruments and together participate in a total of six YOBC ensembles! Honorable Mentions went to Phoebe Vallapureddy, Gabe Wingert, and Malaika Ashanti. The top earner was Sarah Lesher who raised over $700 for YOBC. Second place went to Mia O’Malley who also had the most individual sponsors—32.
We appreciate all the hard work of almost 100 YOBC students who took part in Practice-A-Thon and gave back to YOBC through their efforts and the pledged support. On Giving Tuesday this November, YOBC undertook a targeted campaign to raise money for one more timpani to complete our set. In one day, we surpassed our $2000 goal and raised enough money to purchase the fourth YOBC awarded prizes of $125 and $75 to the top practicers and money earners in the instrument. 2016 Practice-A-Thon. Award winners were (l to r): Phoebe Vallapureddy, Mia O’Malley, Thanks to all our generous conWyatt Menci, Nala Ashanti, Malaika Ashanti, Sara Lesher, and Gabe Wingert. tributors!
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Keeping Tempo