Living the American Dream

Ahead of their inaugural tour this summer, Andrew Stewart explores the ethos behind the USA’s NYO Jazz and its siblings

NYO Jazz member Andrew Sumabat (trombone)

People said it was impossible. There were so many reasons why the United States had never formed a national youth orchestra. The talent was there in abundance. Yet the vast expense and geographical distances involved surely stood against bringing the best young musicians together in one place. Clive Gillinson chose to differ. Carnegie Hall’s Executive and Artistic Director created the conditions that gave birth to the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America five years ago. The international achievements of NYO- USA, from whistle-stop European tours with Valery Gergiev to critically acclaimed visits to China and Latin America, have demolished the myth that it could not be done. They soon inspired the launch of NYO2, a summer training programme for young instrumentalists, many from disadvantaged or deprived backgrounds, organised by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. The venue’s latest education initiative is set to take wing this summer with the debut of NYO Jazz at Carnegie Hall. Askonas Holt’s Tours & Projects team will handle the big band’s ensuing European tour, a voyage of musical discovery complete with prestigious concerts in venues including London, Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Berlin.

Sean Jones © Jimmy Katz

“When we launched NYO-USA in 2013, we were clear that NYO Jazz would follow,” Clive Gillinson recalls. “Jazz is America’s artform and we felt that it was important for us to nurture the next generation of players.” He adds that lessons learned while building a national youth orchestra from scratch have been applied to NYO Jazz. Both bands are committed to quality. Whereas NYO-USA shares the stage with leading conductors and soloists, NYO Jazz will work with some of the best musicians in the jazz business. Trumpeter, composer and educator Sean Jones, a former lead player with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, has been booked to serve as NYO Jazz’s Artistic Director. He will be joined for its inaugural outing by Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Dianne Reeves and head a faculty comprising, among others, drummer Obed Calvaire, trumpeter Etienne Charles, pianist Gerald Clayton, saxophonist Erica von Kleist, bassist Mimi Jones and ensemble coach Reggie Thomas.

Twenty-two players from sixteen states were chosen as the first NYO Jazz intake. They were selected by online audition, a process already tested and refined by NYO-USA. The band will gather in mid-July at Purchase College in New York’s Westchester County for an intensive two-week course prior to its Carnegie Hall debut and a fortnight on the road in company with ten support staff. Its transatlantic tour opens on 31 July at The Apex in Bury St Edmunds, moves to London’s Cadogan Hall the following evening, and continues with dates at Amsterdam’s Robeco Summer Nights series, the Edinburgh International Festival, Kassel’s Stadthalle and the Konzerthaus Berlin.

Domo Branch (drums)

“Music education was so important to me growing up,” says Sean Jones. “When I got older and garnered some sort of success, I wanted to make sure that I gave back and was that mentor for young students that my teachers had been to me. NYO Jazz is the perfect opportunity to do that on a grand scale. It’s going to be wonderful for these students and for me. I don’t think they yet understand the magnitude of what’s about to happen in their lives! I’m overjoyed to have this opportunity to play America’s music in the way that I’ve always imagined it – no barriers, no lines, nothing holding us back.”

Anna Abondolo (bass)

Beyond the big city concert halls and excitement of the grand occasion, members of NYO Jazz are likely to draw their deepest inspiration from the band’s repertoire. Carnegie Hall has commissioned new works from jazz and classical bassist John Clayton and alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, an acclaimed educator and one of the most versatile artists imaginable. Doug Beck, Weill Music Institute’s Director of Artist Training Programmes, praises Sean Jones for his expansive view of big band jazz. “We spoke to Sean about the project from its early stages,” he notes. “He’s identified some great charts from the 60s and 70s and hip-hop and R&B influenced pieces that from more recent years. They’ll play two of Sean’s tunes, a Christian McBride piece from the 90s, arrangements of Ellington and of Thad Jones and Frank Foster, who both led the Count Basie Orchestra. About half the programme is standard big band rep and half is a more contemporary take on what a large jazz ensemble can do.”

Cyrus Mackey (trumpet)

The range of NYO Jazz repertoire and the quality of its teaching faculty are a delight to Clive Gillinson. He understands the enduring power of making music with the best at an early age. “You’ve got to create a magnet for talent, so that it’s irresistible to the best players from across the country. I was a cellist in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain when I was a kid. It was one of the most powerful, inspiring experiences of my whole life in music. When I came to Carnegie Hall, I couldn’t believe that there wasn’t a national youth orchestra in the States. Of course, it would have been a monumentally expensive exercise before internet auditioning.” Advances in online technology, he adds, removed a mighty obstacle from the path of his nationwide project and prepared the ground for NYO-USA and its siblings.

Before moving to New York in the mid-noughties, Clive Gillinson realised ambitious artistic dreams during his long service as Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra. Education soared high on his LSO agenda and remains central to his work at Carnegie Hall. He was determined above all that the institution’s national youth ensembles programmes should be delivered free of charge to all participants, that each orchestra should be open to exceptional talent, never closed to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. “You have to reach out – you have to engage with people,” he comments. “It’s no good saying access is easy! It requires a very proactive approach. This year we’ve seen eighteen players from NYO2 go on to join NYO-USA. That’s having an impact on the National Youth Orchestra and will ultimately have an impact on what musicians look like who progress to music colleges and into America’s orchestras and ensembles. Virtually everything we do here in education is free. We want these youth orchestras to be based on the ability to play not the ability to pay.”

Sean Jones says Amen to that. The trumpeter describes jazz as the sophisticated representation of American popular music, an art form that has touched and influenced so many others. “Humanity is evolving,” he suggests. “Walls are being broken down. The internet,although it can be a terrible thing at times, has brought people together and helped them share ideas. The folks we chose were not chosen just because they’re great players; they were chosen because we felt they reflect the dynamic of what America is all about, the true melting pot of people coming from different places and backgrounds, going through varying struggles. We wanted to make sure that the best of what this nation offers is represented on this tour. To stand in front of those amazing young minds and help them become the best human beings they can possibly be, is one of the greatest challenges of my life. I can’t wait for us to start work.”

NYO ON TOUR

Joined by conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, NYO-USA returns to Asia, making debut performances in Taiwan and South Korea.

19 Jul · Carnegie Hall, New York

24 Jul · National Concert Hall, Taipei

27 Jul · Shanghai Symphony Hall

29 Jul · National Centre for Performing Arts, Beijing

1 Aug · Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul

3 Aug · Daejeon Culture & Arts Centre

With soloist and band leader Sean Jones and jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves, NYO Jazz’s inaugural tour sees performances in the UK and Germany.

27 Jul · Carnegie Hall, New York

31 Jul · The Apex, Bury St Edmunds

1 Aug · Cadogan Hall, London

2 Aug · Concertgebouw, Amsterdam

5 Aug · Usher Hall, Edinburgh

8 Aug · Kongress Palais, Kassel

10 Aug · Konzerthaus, Berlin

Andrew Stewart is a classical musicjournalist who has written for avariety of magazines, including BBCMusic Magazine, Classic FM, ClassicalMusic, Music Week and Gramophoneamong others.