On July 15, conductor Thomas Wilkins will be the keynote speaker at the Take a Stand Symposium in Los Angeles, part of the three-year Take a Stand initiative launched in 2015 to create a unified national platform for El Sistema-inspired programs in the United States. Wilkins is music director of the Omaha Symphony, principal conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and family and youth concerts conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The symposium takes place during the weeklong Take a Stand festival, which will culminate on July 22 with a performance of a national youth orchestra of students from El Sistema-inspired and aligned programs from across the U.S., led by Gustavo Dudamel at Walt Disney Concert Hall. During the festival students will be instructed and mentored by a teaching staff that includes LA Phil musicians, members of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, and teaching artists from across the country. The festival is a partnership among the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, the Longy School of Music of Bard College, and Bard College.
Posted May 22, 2017
