Fifteen students from the DC Youth Orchestra recently performed at a state dinner for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and his Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The musicians performed portions of Mozart’s 1768 singspiel Bastien und Bastienne at the November 5 event in the State Department’s Benjamin Franklin Room, which honored the Greek Orthodox clergyman for his work furthering religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence between people of different faiths. The orchestra reported that following the performance, Secretary Clinton and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew both “broke from protocol to dash to the students and Maestro Jesus Manuel Berard to congratulate them.” The DC Youth Orchestra Program’s concert season comprises approximately 21 concerts per year during the regular season, with an additional two to four concerts during the summer session.
Posted November 20, 2009
