Philadelphia Youth Orchestra

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Contact: Katie English, 267-974-1250

Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Announces New Musical Education Program for West Phila Elementary Students, Inspired by Venezuela’s El Sistema

PYO launches Tune Up Philly at St. Francis de Sales for more than 80 children through the 2010/2011 school year

Philadelphia – October 11, 2010 (Download PDF) The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra (PYO) announced today that it commenced a new, after-school musical education program for more than 80 elementary school children at St. Francis de Sales in West Philadelphia, with leading sponsorship from Carole Haas Gravagno. Inspired by the National Youth Orchestra System (El Sistema) program of Venezuela, Tune Up Philly's mission is to nurture urban children living in challenging social and economic conditions by keeping them engaged in success through weekday out-of-school hour’s musical instruction.

“We believe that music education is a powerful vehicle for children to master skills that will enable them to acquire valuable tools for cooperative learning, teamwork, academic success, and self esteem,” said Louis Scaglione, President and Music Director of PYO. “Most of the students in Tune Up Philly have never touched a musical instrument. We will work to not only teach music, but encourage and support social, emotional and cognitive development through this new initiative of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra.”

The after-school program for first through sixth grade students, instructed by a dozen local, professional musicians, will run for 39 weeks, through July 29, 2011, five days a week, with concentrations in woodwind (flutes, clarinets), brass (horns, trumpets, trombones), strings (violins, violas and cellos), percussion, choral and general music education. There will be four performances. More than 200 families originally expressed interest for the program; the 80 students were selected to participate based on applications and by lottery, and more than 100 students are on a wait list. More than two dozen instruments have been donated for the children.

“Music serves as a vehicle for social change. After studying El Sistema, I am exhilarated to commence this new program in Philadelphia through our benefactor’s Carole Haas Gravagno’s generosity,” said Tune Up Philly Director, Stanford Thompson, graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, and New England Conservatory’s Abreu Fellows Program. “We are seeking about 30 more donated instruments to commence our inaugural year and hope to raise additional funds to expand Tune Up Philly to include all of the interested children at St. Francis de Sales and to other Philadelphia locations in the coming years.”

El Sistema, a free program in classical music for young children from highly impoverished backgrounds, was started in 1974 and has led to the improvement in the social conditions of the millions of children who have participated in it. The program systemizes musical education, promoting the collective practice of music through orchestral playing and choral singing as models of social organization and community development.

“El Sistema has a proven track record of elevating underserved youth through musical education and social development,” said Carole Haas Gravagno, a retired teacher, community activist and PYO Board of Trustees member. “The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious, will duplicate this success in West Philadelphia at St. Francis de Sales. I am pleased to support this exciting new endeavor.”

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our school. The students are anxious to begin rehearsals, learning basic musical education skills like how to read music, while studying an instrument and playing with their peers,” said Sr. Mary McNulty, Principal of St. Francis de Sales. “As we embark on the first year of this program, I am excited to see the positive benefits and effects of Tune Up Philly on our elementary students.”

Elysa DiMauro, alumna of Philadelphia Youth Orchestra program, will serve as Assistant Director and Site Coordinator. The 12 teaching artists, professional musicians from the Greater Philadelphia area, are as follows:

Katy Ambrose: Horn Instructor. Ms. Ambrose attended the University of Michigan, where she earned her B.M. with honors in horn performance. She earned a Masters degree in performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and an Artist Diploma from Yale University, where she held the Henry and Lucy Moses fellowship. She is currently a member of the Delaware Symphony and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and is on the horn faculty at Settlement Music School.
Paul Butler: General Music Instructor. Mr. Butler has performed in concert with Grammy Award-winning cellist David Darling, most notably at the International Cello Festival in Montreal, Canada. In 1999, Mr. Butler and the Hot House Trio were selected Jazz Ambassadors to the Middle East by the U.S. State Department and the Department of Cultural Exchange. He earned a B.M. in Music Education from Mansfield University and is a certified Music For People teacher.
Rebecca Harris: Violin Instructor. Ms. Harris has been a member of the Teaching Artist Faculty of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2008. She graduated summa cum laude from the Royal Northern College of Music in her native United Kingdom. As a student, she was awarded honors for solo and chamber music performance, including a major grant from the Joanna Scott Foundation in 2006 and this year she will perform in Philadelphia and Germany.
Gabe Globus-Hoenich: Percussion Instructor. Montreal native Mr. Globus-Hoenich plays jazz/world/pop drums in the Philadelphia-New York area and with the Philadelphia based Chamber Music Now! Ensemble and the experimental group Ensemble No-Amnesia. A 2008 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Globus-Hoenich teaches privately, as well as with The Philadelphia Orchestra Teaching Artist program and coaches percussion at Haverford College.
Joseph Hart: Trumpet Instructor. Mr. Hart holds a Bachelors Degree in Music Education from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and a Masters Degree in Trumpet Performance from The Hartt School at The University of Hartford. He is a founding member of WEBQ, winning the Paranov Concerto Competition, placing 2nd in the Aspen Music Festival’s Brass Quintet Fellowship Program in both 2009 and 2010, performing at the 2010 Chicago Brass Festival held at Northeastern Illinois University. Mr. Hart is an On-Call Artist at Madison Square Garden.
Kathleen Krull: Violin Instructor. Mrs. Krull graduated from The State University of New York College at Fredonia with Bachelor of Music Degrees in Music Education and Viola Performance. She received her Master of Liberal Studies with a Concentration in Arts Education from Stonybrook University and taught at the East Islip School District in NY, while also performing with the Massapequa Philharmonic. Mrs. Krull was a faculty member at Duke University String School, string specialist at the Emerson Waldorf School and an Educational Consultant with the North Carolina Symphony. She was Principal Violist of the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra and a section violist with the Durham Symphony.
Bernard Kunkel: Choir Instructor. Mr. Kunkel was appointed Associate Organist at St. Clement's Church in Philadelphia in 2001. His previous position was Organist and Choirmaster at Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge National Park. He has taught at Radnor High School and Swarthmore College.
Delia Raab-Snyder: Clarinet Instructor. Ms. Raab-Snyder is an alumna of PYO’s Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra. She received her Bachelor's in Clarinet Performance from the Mannes College of Music and her Master's from The University of Southern California. She has attended the Aspen Music Festival and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. She completed her Orff Level One Certification at Villanova University.
Nicolas Real: Flute Instructor. Mr. Real begun his career in the National Youth Orchestra System (El Sistema) of Venezuela. A member of the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Miquirebo Flute Quartet of Venezuela, National Flute Orchestra of Venezuela, and the Real-Peña Duo, he holds a Bachelor Degree in Flute Performance from the University Institute of Musical Studies, IUDEM in Venezuela, a Masters Degree in Flute Performance from Central Michigan University and is concluding the Doctoral Degree in Musical Arts at Temple University. Mr. Real is the Principal flute at the Florida Lakes Symphony Orchestra, Founder-Conductor of Entrevoces Choir in Miami and Associate Director of the Amundos Children Choir.
Jose Gregorio Sanchez: Violin Instructor. A Juilliard graduate, Mr. Sanchez’s studied the Suzuki Method at the School for Strings of New York. He has worked in Mind Builders Creative Arts Center, taught in New York public schools and in Monterrey, Mexico. A faculty member of Instituto Superior de Musica del Estado de Veracruz and the University of Veracruz, in 2004 he founded the Children Orchestra of the ISMEV. Currently, he is a member of the Simón Bolivar Orchestra, and a Professor at the Montalban Children Music Center. He studied in the National Youth Orchestra System (El Sistema).
Andrea Weber: Cello Instructor. Since 2007, after graduating with a Master's Degree in Cello Performance from Temple University, Ms. Weber has worked in a variety of teaching capacities with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. She is a founding teaching artist with Symphony in C and a founding member of the Elysium String Quartet.
Joshua Popejoy: Trombone Instructor. Born in Kansas City, MO, Mr. Popejoy received his Bachelor's Degree in Music Performance from Indiana University, with continuing education in Music at Temple University. He is a substitute trombonist for Lancaster, Symphony in C, and Kansas City Symphonies, as well as the Kansas City Ballet. As a songwriter/guitarist, he has released two albums, Runway Lights and After the Ash. Joshua freelances regularly in the Philadelphia area on both instruments.

In addition to leading Tune Up Philly as its Director, Stanford Thompson serves as the Artistic Director of the Reading (PA) Summer Music Institute, Philadelphia All-City Brass Symposium, and Meru (Kenya) Music Project and served as the founding Director of Operations for the Atlanta Trumpet Festival and CEO of Phinical Web Designs. He has presented over one hundred educational programs, master classes, and lectures for major and community orchestras, leading arts organizations, and educational institutions around the world. Stanford has performed with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Curtis Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, Symphony in C and recorded on the Ondine label with Christoph Eschenbach. Stanford also appeared as soloist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Ocean City Pops Orchestra and the North Springs Philharmonic. He was born and raised in a musical family in Decatur, Georgia where began his studies on the trumpet at age 8.

Elysa DiMauro is was born and raised in Philadelphia, she began her musical studies at 8 on violin and a year later on French horn. She attended the Settlement Music School and is an alumna of the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra, where she played principal horn. Elysa received her Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University in 2007 and obtained a Master of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2009. She has played with orchestras such as the Beloit-Janesville Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Madison Symphony Orchestra; she also held the position of third horn with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra.

About the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra: Founded in 1939, the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Louis Scaglione, has offered the opportunity for gifted and talented students to be involved in extraordinary music education through its orchestra training and performance programs. It is one of the oldest youth orchestras in the country. The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and five additional programs, the Philadelphia Youth Artists Orchestra, Bravo Brass, PRYSM, Tune Up Philly and Musicopia, have represented the United States on five continents and have visited more than 20 countries including China, Russia, Australia, Great Britain, Jordan, Israel, Brazil, Venezuela, and most of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe.

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