Keeping Tempo Volume 3, Number 4 May 2012
YOBC Caps off a Busy Year with Spring Concerts, Master Classes, and European Tour Inside this issue: YOBC Student Combines Her Love of Art & Music To Create AwardWinning Dress
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16 YOBC Graduates in Class of 2012
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Conductor’s Notes: Why Should I Play Chamber Music?
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Student Spotlight: Emily Horn
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Finding Your Voice: An Opportunity for Impact
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YOBC Benefits from Generous Donors
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Important Dates:
May 19–20: New and Move-Up Auditions
May 20: YOBC International Tour Rehearsal
July 20: Tour Bon Voyage Concert, BCCC 8:30 PM
September 8: New Student & Advanced Division Orientation
September 9: Rehearsals begin for 2012–13
September 16: Parents’ Meetings
The 2012 spring semester at YOBC was a busy one with a great series of master classes for our string players, percussionists, and would-be jazz improvisers. Wind Symphony also opened its doors to about 20 guests for an April Fool’s Day open rehearsal where everyone got to play some new and different music. The regular season culminated in a concert featuring Jason DePue of the Philadelphia Orchestra as a guest soloist with the YOBC Symphony Orchestra. But for 55 YOBC students and their families, the season has not ended. On May 20 the tour en-
semble will be rehearsing for a 10-day trip in July to Northern Spain and Southern France. The group is scheduled to perform at several international youth music festivals in the South of France as well as enjoying the historical and architectural sights — and beaches — of the south of France. The students will have an opportunity to take a master class and interact with other student musicians from around the world. They will serve as musical ambassadors from Bucks County and YOBC. The YOBC tour ensemble will perform a Bon Voyage Concert on Friday, July 20 at BCCC in the music building where we usually rehearse. There is a final rehearsal from 7:00 to 8:30, followed by an informal concert in Room 001 of the Music & Multimedia Building. The concert Mr. D helps out a visiting percus- is free; we hope evesionist at the Wind Symphony ryone will come out “Bring A Friend” open rehearsal to see our friends off.
Mr. Loughran and the YOBC Symphony Orchestra rehearse with the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Jason DePue
YOBC Symphony and Wind Ensemble students take on the challenge of improvisation
Molly’s Baby
Thomas Michael Silvester-Jensen Visit the YOBC website Members/Announcements for more pictures
YOBC Student Combines Her Love of Art & Music To Create Award-Winning Dress
16 YOBC Graduates in Class of 2012
gomery and Bucks). For an art project at For this she was Pennsbury High interviewed by School, Marisa Purdy Gillian Miele on the has created a Victomorning show, “The rian dress made en10 Show.” tirely out of recycled Recycle Runmusical instruments. way Fashion Show, It was made thanks First Place Winner. in part to her YOBC This was sponsored friends who donated Marisa Purdy (center) with her by Waste Managesheet music, a bow, award-winning dress created from ment and NIE and a bridge. The recycled musical instruments. She is (Newspapers in dress is made out of with her art teacher Danyelle Lala Education). sheet music, partly and Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick. Bucks County dipped in coffee; Art Show at BCCC strings from all types at Hicks Gallery, she won the of instruments; and reeds from clariCongressional Award, presented net, bassoon, sax and oboe. The tie at by Congressman Mike Fitzthe back was made from the bow patrick. The congressman asked hairs from the donated bow. The her if he could display the dress in bridge became a necklace, and earhis office once she’s done with it. rings were made from violin pegs. Next Marisa is going to enter the And the violin is the bodice. The bow was also used to make a parasol. Ma- dress and model it at the Pennsylvania State Recycling Fashion Show risa has been collecting these parts in Quakertown in May. One of the from students, teachers, and music judges will be from the show “Project stores and her dress has won the Runway.” See the link on YOBC’s following awards: home page for more pictures. Pennsylvania State Education Association “Touch the Future” Art Expo – Best In Show Marisa Purdy plays cello in YOBC’s Philharmonia and has just auditioned (selected from over 800 pieces successfully for Symphony Orchestra. from 35 school districts in Mont-
Each spring YOBC recognizes graduating seniors at the Advanced Division concert. This year, due to a clerical error, we left one of our senEdwin Lu iors off the program. Edwin Lu, a violinist in YOBC’s Symphony Orchestra, is a senior at Council Rock North High School. He has been a member of YOBC for three years and hopes to join a music ensemble in college. His favorite memories include the 20th Anniversary Gala Concert and this year’s trip to the Philadelphia Orchestra concert. Edwin likes YOBC because of the good players, repertoire, and program. He says YOBC “opened up my realm of mu-
sic by teaching me the concept of musicality.” Edwin joins the other graduating students: Gregory Chen, Charlotte Fedun, Chandler Fitzsimons, Ramya Gurunathan, Jennifer Hammelman, George MacIntyre, Michael Manoff, Jasmine Pitts, Sam Present, Tom Shen, Ian Sibner, Chris Smirnov, Paula Williamson, Michael Yang, and Victoria Zhao. We wish each of them the best in their future endeavors.
Conductors’ Notes: Why Should I Play Chamber Music? “I play with YOBC. I play in my school groups. What would chamber music do for me except take up more of my limited time?” Students are busy and even more time playing can seem like overkill at best. But making music in a small group can be an opportunity for real musical growth. I often warn student musicians not to hide in wind ensemble or in any large ensemble. If a passage is difficult it is easy to let it go because someone else is probably playing the part. In chamber music, each part is exposed and must be mastered for the perform-
ance. Making music with a small group means each individual is responsible for all aspects of music-
Making music in a small group can be an opportunity for real musical growth. making. There is no conductor giving the tempo, correcting rhythms, giving phrasing, interpreting the music for you. Each player has to listen to the others, react, tune, phrase, and articulate with the othPage 2
ers. The true attention needed to refine the details of performance skills are exposed in chamber music. Every musician should take time to do duets, trios, quartets, quintets, etc. to hone their skills and play great music. YOBC has instituted a chamber music recital as part of the curriculum and will give groups that have worked to prepare a piece a concert performance venue. If you love music and want to be a better musician take the time and play some chamber music. —Steve Sweetsir, Conductor YOBC Wind Ensemble
tudent
potlight: Emily Horn
This February, Emily Horn and her mother, Sabine, took part in a housebuilding excursion, together with Tabitha, a nonprofit organization, to the outskirts of Batambang, Cambodia. Still suffering from the effects of General Pot Pol, the country’s brutal dictator who directed the genocide of nearly 30% of the population in the 1970s, Cambodia’s citizens endure the aftershocks today in terms of severe poverty, lack of sanitary water, and scant opportunities for work to provide for their families. The 22-hour plane ride from New York was exhausting, but it was worth it once Emily and Sabine witnessed the villagers smiling from ear to ear as they were able to move into their new home which the housebuilding crew had constructed. It might have been the first time these
people had had proper shelter from the sweltering sun during the dry season and the humidity and heavy rains during the Southeast Asian monsoons. Emily and her mother also had a chance to visit Tuol Sleng, a former school that had been converted into a prison for torture by the Khmer Rouge. They also took a tour of the infamous Killing Fields in the outskirts of Phnom Penh, where a tall pagoda houses literally hundreds of skulls from the victims of the genocide. The Tabitha house-building group also visited an orphanage run by local volunteers and Tabitha’s headquarters, where Cambodian women are hired and receive a steady income for sewing beautiful silk scarves, purses, and other hand-crafted merchandise. Emily and Sabine help Tabitha back home in Pennsylvania by selling
Emily Horn (kneeling, front left) with a Cambodian house-building crew.
these silk products at church sales and local fairs. For information regarding the Tabitha house-building program, other Cambodian-based community projects, and artisan Cambodian silk goods, please contact Emily or Sabine (215-489-1109) at kendrickhorn@yahoo.com. Emily Horn plays oboe in YOBC’s Wind Ensemble.
Finding Your Voice: An Opportunity for Impact I once heard a student address parents and students at her high school graduation. She was an inexperienced speaker, but her message was powerful because she spoke with passion and clarity about things that were important to her. At such a young age, she had found her voice and her authenticity gave her words an opportunity for great impact. George Gershwin’s music is like that. He was born in Brooklyn in 1898, to an immigrant family. As a boy, George became interested in the “sounds” of music. He once said, “I frequently hear music in the heart of noise,” and this aptly describes the wild collage of music that influenced his compositions. He studied classical piano, but at 15, he took a job plugging popular songs on “Tin Pan Alley,” where he learned to write and sell his own jazz-inspired songs for $5 apiece. He traveled to Europe to learn from great classical musicians including Ravel and Schoenberg. Recognizing Gershwin’s talent, Ravel refused to give him instruction, wisely advising him to find his own Volume 3, Number 4
musical voice: “Why be a second-rate Ravel, when you are a first-rate Gershwin?” Gershwin learned to infuse classical music with the rhythms and harmonies of jazz and popular music, creating his own, unique sound which made him a great composer. He later said, “True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans and my time is today.” Gershwin found his voice and forever changed the world of music. In 2012, the 75th anniversary of his death, his music continues to speak with meaning. We are all on a journey to find our unique voice. YOBC was created 22 years ago to give young string students an advanced classical music experience. Through the years we have worked to answer the question: What can we do to help young musicians? To date, we have expanded our programs to include wind and percussion students, added 11 ensembles, established a Concerto Competition, created an annual master class series and a chamber music program, developed a curriculum, taken students on five
international tours, provided opportunities for leadership through community service, arranged field trips to concerts in Philadelphia and NYC, and enriched students through opportunities to work with artists like Chris Brubeck and Jason DePue. Each year, the YOBC board and staff strive to answer that same question with clarity of mission and passion. We strive to provide a learning environment rich with opportunity and encouragement, which recognizes the unique potential of each student. This is our voice and it guides everything we do. We have planned many opportunities for YOBC students in 2012–13, culminating in a weekend of learning and performing with two-time Grammy Award– winning artist Mark O’Connor at Patriots Theater. We hope that by remaining true to our own voice, we will be able to help each of our students unlock their potential by moving them further along their journey to finding their own, unique voice. —Colleen Sweetsir YOBC Executive Director Page 3
YOBC Benefits from Generous Donors Six years ago, YOBC’s founders tion of the value that we provide asked me to assume responsibility our members. for YOBC. Joe and Judy Gimbel Running a 250-student educabelieved that my experience in nontional nonprofit requires a lot of profit governance could take YOBC support. Top on that list is the 21to a higher level as an educational year sponsorship of the Bucks institution and in its management County Community College’s Arts and direction. With the assistance Department. They provide free use of our very capable Board of Direcof all college facilities and equiptors, our endlessly energetic volunment, without which our tuition teers, and our professional conducwould easily be doubled. Parent and tors and administrators, YOBC community volunteers also lead the has: way in keeping our costs low. That Doubled the number of stusaid, YOBC has to pay for nearly dents that we serve, many with everything else that it needs to opscholarships as needs require; erate, from performance venues, Expanded programs in chamber conductor and administrative staff music; salaries, music scores, scholar Collaborated with BCCC’s ships, and professional musician College Choir, TCNJ’s Wind fees. We’ve Ensemble, benchmarked our costs through our and a variety of profesmembership in sional musithe League of American Orcians and clinicians; chestras and we know we are a Provided opgreat value when portunity for Joe Hochreiter (left), YOBC Board Presi- compared to our our students dent, with YOBC’s founder Joe Gimbel. peers across the to regularly country. perform in a My wife Eileen and I support a true concert hall; and number of social-service agencies, Developed a curriculum-based, including the Family Service Assomulti-level instrumental prociation Bucks County Emergency gram geared toward optimum Shelter (which I founded at the Red student development, with our Cross in 1985) and the Counseling Symphony Orchestra and Wind Center of Bucks County. One of my Ensemble consistently performproudest moments was in 2010 ing college-level material. when a 12-year-old girl entered the Our five-year plan (available on shelter with her homeless father our website) has set ambitious tarand her trombone. Our Board imgets for future growth. YOBC has mediately evaluated her musical become a “best in class” organizainterest and placed her in our Jump tion that emphasizes a nurturing Start scholarship program (which approach to learning, along with a paid for private music lessons for a willingness to explore how classical year) music finds its way into other musiWhen I was 12, I studied radio cal expressions, as demonstrated in theory at the Franklin Institute our “Crossing Classical Boundaand obtained my Amateur Radio ries” program. What we provide is license. That experience directly led truly unique in our region, and our me to a career as a scientist student retention rate is a reflec-
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(hydrologist), and accordingly we support the Franklin Institute as benefactors. Serious music instruction and broader academic performance in school are directly correlated in numerous studies. The institutions that help develop young minds, like the Franklin Institute and YOBC, deserve serious consideration for your financial support – the bang for the buck is huge. Won’t you join Eileen and me and our Board in considering a gift to YOBC, perhaps even when you consider your estate planning? I can assure you that your gift will directly and meaningfully impact the lives of highly motivated youth in our community. —Joseph P. Hochreiter, Jr. YOBC Board President