American Youth String Ensemble takes home Grand Champion trophy at the ASTA National Orchestra Festival

Congratulations to the American Youth String Ensemble members for winning Middle School Grand Champion in the 2020 ASTA National Orchestra Festival! Middle school groups competed in the festival on Friday, March 6th in Orlando, Florida.

Our second youngest orchestra, the American Youth String Ensemble (AYSE), was selected with six similar aged groups from around the country to take part in the recent American String Teachers Festival in Orlando, FL. It is a matter for justifiable pride, and a recognition of the high standards maintained across the AYPO programs, that the ensemble won the first prize as Grand Champion in their sector. The ASTA festival is regarded as the premiere event for string orchestras in the United States.

We are incredibly proud of our students, who played with artistry and finesse on a demanding program. We are so thankful to everyone who helped to make this happen: Laura Cahn and Doug Wallace for their superior artistic leadership, our wonderful chaperones who worked tirelessly to make sure the trip was a success, and to the American String Teachers Association for this tremendous opportunity.

[Further information from Dr Graham Elliott; Executive Director, AYPO. Email: gelliott@aypo.org Tel: 703-642-8053]

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REGARDING CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

Friday, March 13, 2020
ANNANDALE, VA

To all members of the AYPO community:

Two days ago, I sent out a message to all involved in AYPO to explain the situation as it then existed, and our constant monitoring of the coronavirus situation. The announcements that Loudoun County Public Schools are closing for more than a week and that Fairfax County has cancelled community use events through April 12th impacts what AYPO is doing.

In the previous message, I stated "Since we draw students from neighboring counties, we feel that any school system closure in the following should trigger the decision to suspend activity for however long the advisory lasts: Loudoun County Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools, and Fairfax County Public Schools.” The closure of Loudoun Public schools, and the restriction on access to FCPS, therefore triggers our own decision to suspend activity.

After consultation with the AYPO conductors, we have decided to cancel all activity up to, and including, spring break. All normal activities, will recommence on Monday, 13th April. 

There will be some inevitable impact on planned performances, but we will work to mitigate that impact. To maintain momentum the conductors and ensemble directors will maintain, through the office, contact with their students. They will find creative ways to keep students engaged and active in order to have the minimum impact on their learning and performance development. The AYPO office staff will continue to work as usual. 

The following AYPO activities and events are now cancelled:

• Music Buddies sessions on 3/13, 3/27, 4/3

• Monday rehearsals on 3/16, 3/23, 3/30

• VA Harp Festival rehearsal & performance on March 20th

• AYP Dress Rehearsal on Saturday, March 21st

• AYP Concert on Sunday, March 22nd [we will seek to find a viable alternative date for this program]

• AYPO Community Outreach Performance @ Lincolnia, March 25th

• AYPO Community Outreach Performance @ Brightview, March 28th

• AYPO Chamber Ensemble Masterclass, March 29th

• AYP Side-by-side rehearsal with NSO on Monday, March 30th

Dr. Graham Elliott
Executive Director

Alumnus, Brian Hong, talks AYPO and Sibelius

AYPO Alumnus, Brian Hong, will perform Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, Op. 47 with the American Youth Philharmonic as a guest soloist on Sunday, January 19th. In celebration of this performance, Brian reminisced on his time at AYPO, provided some insights into his career as a musician, and gave advice for aspiring musicians today.

Which AYPO ensembles did you play in and how long?

I started in the String Ensemble in 2004 at the age of 11, continuing on in the Symphonic Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra, and was fortunate to have the opportunity to lead the latter two ensembles.  I fondly remember my years in AYP under the direction of Luis Haza and then Daniel Spalding.

What musicians inspire you and why?

The musicians who inspire me the most embody musical versatility and sensitivity alongside warmth and kindness.  It is my belief that one must have the ability to adapt in the moment and to mold their playing to their situation, and to do so with openness and humility.  I have lately been seeking inspiration from wonderful violinists such as Isabelle Faust, Christian Tetzlaff, and Vilde Frang, violists such as Tabea Zimmermann and Kim Kashkashian, and cellists such as Nicolas Altstaedt, Steven Isserlis, and Jean-Guihen Qeuyras.

What is your favorite thing about performing Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, Op. 47?

Jean Sibelius treats the violin and orchestra differently than any other composer to my ears. Both the solo and orchestral lines intertwine and emerge from one another as a single, organic musical mass that glows with a beautifully expansive Nordic tonal palette. This piece is an exhausting emotional journey, from the frosty and angsty first movement, to the deep love poem of the second, and the triumphant, galloping heroism of the third.

What is your favorite memory of being in AYPO? 

I recently listened to a recording of Sibelius' First Symphony and was reminded of my experience playing it in AYSO.  This was the first symphonic work that I fell deeply in love with from a performance perspective, and I still remember that moment in rehearsal when I realized that the orchestra is truly greater than the sum of its parts, and how it is capable of producing magic when everyone works together.  

Do you have any advice for young musicians interested in pursuing a career in music? 

I would encourage any young musician to indulge and develop their curiosity.  The world of music is a profoundly deep one, and our connections with composers, pieces, teachers, and colleagues must all be developed and nurtured.  Ask questions, study scores, and read and perform lots and lots of chamber music!  Only then do we truly discover what it is that we each love about music, and that is the source of our continued inspiration and growth.

Come hear Brian Hong perform Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, Op. 47 on Sunday, January 19th at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts at 3pm.

Chamber Ensemble Wins 1st Place at YMIC

We are thrilled to announce three of our musicians participating in the Chamber Ensemble Program have won first place in the “Other Chamber” Category at the 2019 YMIC (Young Musicians Inspiring Change) Metropolitan Music Festival. Olivia Bond (cello), Daniel Lee (piano), and Noah Portner (clarinet) performed the Brahms Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114. Congratulations, Olivia, Daniel, and Noah!

Congratulations 2018-2019 Seniors!

Congratulations AYPO Seniors
Class of 2019

Aislin Carpenter
Alan Jiang
Alex Haldane
Alexis Watkinson
Alfonso Sánchez
Amanda Welch
Andrew Gantzer
Austin Amacher
Caitlyn Clingenpeel
Catherine Hiu
Catherine George
Christopher Deng
Christopher Bi
Clayton Bostick
Crystal Zhou
Diego Jaques
Diego Stine
Eric Hegemann
Erik Wartenberg
Estella Mota Pinto
Felix Curtis
Forrest Johnston
Gabriel Yu
Geoffrey Kulp
Graham Lovely
Harin Ok
Huay Din
Ila Sharma
Irene Kim
Irene Paek
Isabelle Lesmana
Jacqueline Hritzo
Jake Fitzgerald
Jason Smith
Jasper de Boor
Jenna Bachmann
Jessica Kwon
Jisoo Park
Joanna Rider
John Park
Katie Curry
Liam McGrail
Libby Stewart
Lilli Mathews
Lourdes de la Peña
Madeline Yu
Madelyn Kline
Matthew Kirschner
Michelle Li
Nathaniel Coughlin
Patrick Lee
Raymond Schleien
Rebecca Whitten
Ryan Lee
Ryan Chon
Samuel Koch
Sonia Warrior
Stephanie Manning
Victoria Bliss
William Kim
Yevgeny Dodzin
Yingyin Chen

Next year, our seniors will attend….

Boston Conservatory
Boston University
Florida State University
George Mason University
Indiana University at Bloomington
James Madison University
Johns Hopkins University - Peabody Conservatory
Liberty University
Mercer University
Oberlin Conservatory
Princeton University
The Colburn School
The College of William and Mary
The Juilliard School
The Ohio State University School of Music
University of Illinois
University of Maryland College Park
University of North Texas - School of Music
University of Rochester
University of Virginia
Utah State University
Virginia Tech
Yale University

AYPO Receives "Good Neighbor Grant" from The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation recently announced the award of a $25,000 Good Neighbor grant to The American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras (AYPO), to support its 2019-2020 Tuition assistance Program. This grant will increase the funding available to support the membership of children to the AYPO programs for those who might otherwise, for financial reasons, be unable to take up places in the five orchestras and six instrumental ensembles offered by AYPO.

This award builds on the recognition which AYPO received for its 54 years of service to the community by ARTSFAIRFAX when it made AYPO recipient of its 2018 Arts Education Award. This prestigious organization enjoys wide national recognition for the consistently high standards of public performances achieved by the orchestras and ensembles, and the important, and often life-changing training given by a highly skilled artistic staff.

AYPO alumni are to be found in some of the leading national professional orchestras, as well as public school and private teachers in the region.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. Since 2000, the Foundation has awarded $190 million in scholarships to nearly 2,500 students from 8th grade through graduate school, along with comprehensive counseling and other support services. The Foundation has also provided over $100 million in grants to organizations that serve such students. www.jkcf.org

[Contact Dr Graham Elliott for further information.gelliott@aypo.org. Tel 703-642-8053]

AYPO Musician Accepted into Selective Summer Chamber Music Program

ANNANDALE, VA - American Youth String Ensemble and AYPO Junior Chamber Ensemble musician, Enzo Baldanza, has been accepted into the Chamber Music Intensive Program with the Philadelphia International Music Festival. The most selective of PIMF’s Summer Programs, the Chamber Ensemble Intensive Program presents only 12 outstanding musicians, ages 13-19, with the opportunity to receive mentorship and training from members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Throughout the program, these young musicians will participate in masterclasses, receive private lessons from members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, partake in solo performance opportunities, and more. The Chamber Music Summer Intensive focuses on not only fostering these young performers’ technique and musicianship, but also helps to build their character through performances in hospitals, libraries, and other public venues throughout the community of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

For his audition, Enzo Baldanza performed the Mozart Violin Concerto # 3; I. Allegro, Bach Partita for Violin No. 2 in D minor; I. Allemanda, and sent a video of a vocal performance of the National Anthem at a basketball game in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse University.

Congratulations, Enzo!

AYPO Musicians Perform on Millennium Stage

ANNANDALE, VA - On Wednesday, January 23rd and Thursday, January 24th, select AYPO Musicians participating in The Kennedy Center’s National Symphony Orchestra Youth Fellowship Program performed an evening of chamber music on Millennium Stage. The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Youth Fellowship program provides musical training to young students interested in pursuing a career in music. Following a successful audition process, NSO Youth Fellows train with members of the National Symphony Orchestra or the Washington National Opera Orchestra, participate in coaching, rehearsals, and masterclasses with NSO musicians, and observe rehearsals and concerts.

Musicians from AYPO’s Philharmonic and Symphonic Orchestras participating in the NSO Youth Fellows’ performances last week include: Yingyin Chen (AYSO), Caitlyn Clingenpeel (AYP), Matthew Cummings (AYP), Lourdes de la Peña (AYP), Benjamin D’Haiti (AYSO), Andrew Gantzer (AYP), Romain-Olivier Gray (AYP), Jacqueline Hritzo (AYP), Michelle Li (AYP), Graham Lovely (AYP), George Pekarsky (AYP), and Raymond Schleien (AYP).

Check out the videos on The Kennedy Center’s NSO Youth Fellows site:
NSO Youth Fellows - 1/23/19
NSO Youth Fellows - 1/24/19

ARTSFAIRFAX Arts Education Award

ANNANDALE, VA - The long AYPO history of offering excellence in training young musicians was recently marked by the award of the ARTSFAIRFAX Music Education Award. The introduction to this award states 'The Arts Education Award recognizes an arts organization, or individual arts educator, that has provided superlative arts education opportunities, experiences, or training for youth, students of all ages, or emerging artists.’ The citation for AYPO states 'The 2018 Arts Education Award was presented to the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras for its commitment to under-served students, its dedication to first-class training, and its philosophy that music extends to success in the classroom and beyond.’

Recently, the Fairfax County Times featured two articles on AYPO’s recent successes in Arts Education. AYPO Executive Director, Dr. Graham Elliott and Board President Karen Leyva call for a stronger musical community and a new performing arts center in Northern Virginia in this article. Dr. Graham Elliott and Karen Leyva were also featured alongside Wolf Trap Foundation and Claude Moore Charitable Foundation representatives, in an article highlighting the future of the arts in Fairfax County.

Glenn Quader Selected to Lead AYSO in 18-19

ANNANDALE, VA - The Board of Directors of the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras (AYPO) announces the appointment of Glenn Quader to succeed Maestro Carl J. Bianchi as conductor of the American Youth Symphonic Orchestra. AYSO is one of the two top orchestras in the roster of five orchestras and six ensembles in the AYPO program. Maestro Bianchi retired following the 2016-17 season after 26 years with AYSO. A year-long search process has been undertaken and Mr. Quader has emerged as the selected conductor starting the 54th season of the organization.

Mr. Quader studied at the Peabody Institute of the John Hopkins University and the universities of Indiana, Illinois, Miami and Florida International, and holds a conducting diploma, awarded by Sicily’s Catania International Conducting Institute. His principal conducting teachers have included the late Gustav Meier, Ovidiu Balan, Robert Gutter, and James Brooks-Bruzzese, while intensive workshops were undertaken with Marin Alsop, Jorma Panula, James Litton, Larry Rachleff and David Loebel.

A native of  Washington, DC, Glenn Quader is continually gaining national recognition as a dynamic and versatile conductor.  Equally adept in the classical, jazz and popular idioms, he appears extensively as a conductor, performer and session musician in the United States and Europe, placing him in consistently high demand both on concert stages and in recording studios.

Mr. Quader’s most recent professional appointment includes Music Director of the Frederick Symphony Orchestra.  Since he was appointed Music Director of the Piedmont Symphony Orchestra in 2005, the orchestra has increased its paid core membership, added an additional summer residency at the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival and enjoyed a three-fold rise in season subscriptions.  Mr. Quader also serves as Conductor of the American Studio Orchestra, which has enjoyed residencies at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Institute College of Art and ARTSCAPE.

AYPO Class of 2018

Congratulations to our graduating seniors in AYP, AYSO and Flute Ensemble!

American Youth Philharmonic (AYP) 

Eugene Choo (Cello), University of Virginia (Major: Foreign Affairs, Minor: Media Studies)
Bethlehem Hadgu (Viola), Juilliard (Major: Music)
Katie Huszcza (Cello), James Madison University (Major: Music)
Esther In (Violin), Cornell University (Major: Electrical Engineering)
Olivia Johann, Yale University (Major: Undecided)
Minseon Kim (Violin), Manhattan School of Music (Major: Music)
Julia Kushan (Violin), William & Mary (Major: Neuroscience, Minor: Music)
Seungmin Lee (Violin), Cornell University (Major: Civil Engineering)
Michael Lee (Violin), Mary Washington University (Major: Undecided, Minor: Pre-Dental)
An-Ya Olson (Harp), Princeton University (Major: Undecided)
John Ortman (Cello), Hillsdale College (Major: Economics)
Somerset Peede (Viola), Vanderbilt University (Major: Music)
Sagada Penano (Bassoon), Stanford University (Major: Physics/Music)
Gabrielle Pho (French Horn), Juilliard (Major: Music)
Nils Randers-Pehrson (Violin), Peabody Conservatory (Major: Music for New Media)
Gabe Ravel (Double Bass), James Madison University (Major: Music)
Emma Rood (Harp), Belmont University (Major: Harp Performance/Music Business)
Olivia Scheidt (Violin), University of Virginia (Major: Undecided)
Brendan Shirk (Oboe), Eastman School of Music (Major: Music)
Sarah Slate (Violin), Indiana University (Major: Music)
Eugene Song (Trombone), U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Major: Civil Engineering)
Andrew Stump (French Horn), Juilliard (Major: Music)
Eric Su (Violin), DePaul University (Major: Music)
Courtney Tern (Clarinet), University of Virginia (Major: Biology/Statistics)
Peter Zganiacz (Flute), University of Dallas (Major: Undecided)
Annie Zhao (Flute), Yale University (Major: Economics/Mathematics)

American Youth Symphonic Orchestra (AYSO)

Victoria Bliss (Violin), Gap Year
John Cheng (Percussion), George Mason University (Major: Undecided)
Garret Cooksey (French Horn), University of Maryland (Major: Music/Mathematics)
Amy Lim (Harp), George Mason University (Major: Harp Performance/Computer Engineering)
Allison Quade (Violin), Ithaca College (Major: Music Education)
Sabrina Ramirez (Violin), George Mason University (Major: Engineering, Minor: Music/ Japanese)
Henry Stockton (Violin), University of Edinburgh (Major: International Relations)
Wendy Tang (Flute), University of Virginia (Major: Economics)
Calvin Zubaly (Viola), George Mason University (Major: Music Education, Minor: Mathematics)

Flute Ensemble

Anna Clark, James Madison University (Major: Music Education)
Sarah Nus, Concordia University Wisconsin (Major: Computer Science)