“The Harmony Program, an after-school program which trains more than 200 disadvantaged kids in neighborhoods in Upper Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Long Island … has just announced its latest expansion: a Harmony All-Stars Ensemble, a group of nine musicians who, through an audition, will study and perform with members of the New York Philharmonic in several events next month,” writes Brian Wise on Wednesday (4/1) at New York radio station WQXR’s website. “The project is an arm of Philharmonic Academy Jr., a pre-college training program that the Philharmonic announced in October and which will involve a handful of local schools.… The children, ages 11-14, comprise brass, string and percussion players. They will be invited to attend a Philharmonic rehearsal, receive a day of coaching, and perform alongside their mentors in a free concert at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center on May 20. The larger aim is to give young musicians orchestral role models. ‘That type of an experience not only benefits the kids musically,’ said [Harmony Program founder and executive director Anne] Fitzgibbon, ‘but it builds our children’s self-esteem to know that musicians of this caliber care about their development as young musicians.’ ”
Posted April 2, 2015
