Vincent Igusa
Congratulations!
BCPS said today: Carnegie Hall has announced that Baltimore County Public Schools’ students Vincent Igusa [of Towson High School] and Kara Poling are among the 78 young musicians selected from across the nation for the inaugural season of NYO2, a two-week, intensive summer program for outstanding instrumentalists ages 14-17.
Igusa, who plays the bassoon, is a Grade 9 student at Towson High School. Poling, an oboe player, is a Grade 8 student at Sudbrook Magnet Middle School. The two will begin the program on Saturday, Jun. 18, 2016.
NYO2 is an extension of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), a program for musicians ages 16-19, launched by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute in the summer of 2013 to great acclaim. Both NYO-USA and NYO2 are free to all participants.
Running in conjunction with NYO-USA’s annual summer residency at Purchase College, State University of New York (SUNY), NYO2 has been established with a special focus on attracting talented young musicians from communities underserved by, and underrepresented in, the classical orchestral field. This new program, in partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra, aims to expand the pool of young musicians across the country equipped with the tools to succeed at the highest level, particularly those who will bring greater diversity to classical orchestral music or those who have not had access to highly selective training opportunities. Like NYO-USA, NYO2 musicians were selected following a comprehensive online audition process. In addition, Carnegie Hall asked high school educators and local youth orchestra directors for nominations of potential NYO2 candidates who would most benefit from focused training and participation in an inspiring community of their peers in order to take their playing to the next level.
Kara Poling
“Following the success of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, we are thrilled to launch NYO2,” said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall’s Executive and Artistic Director. “In time, we think that the training, inspiration, and access provided by a national program like this can help to expand the range and diversity of young people considering careers in the classical music field. We are delighted to be collaborating on this initiative with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Carnegie Hall’s longtime artistic partner. Together, we hope to empower these talented young players to further develop their musicianship and use music to connect with audiences and people everywhere.”
This summer, NYO2 will be led by renowned conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, Music Director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. As a central part of this free program, NYO2 musicians will have the opportunity to work closely with select members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, an organization with its own deep commitment to education and artist training, thanks to a new partnership formed between Carnegie Hall and the orchestra.
In addition to coaching sessions with Philadelphia Orchestra members during their training residency at Purchase College, NYO2 musicians will have side-by-side opportunities with their peers in NYO-USA as well as access to individual instruction and workshops designed to cultivate arts leadership skills to enable them to serve their communities through music.
The finale of the NYO2 musicians’ 2016 season will be a weekend in Philadelphia from July 1–4, highlighted by a free concert at Verizon Hall on Saturday, July 2 (time is to be announced). Information on how to obtain tickets to the July 2 concert as well as additional details on NYO2’s Philadelphia visit will be announced later this spring.