The nine extraordinary young professional musicians of Ensemble Connect present their second virtual concert of the 2020-2021 season titled Up Close: What Does it Mean to be Moved? streamed live on Carnegie Hall's YouTube channel on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:30pm EST. The free concert, which explores music's power to physically and emotionally move listeners, features works by Boulanger, Boulogne, Paquito D'Rivera, Hindemith, Koechlin, Komitas, and Villa-Lobos.
Presented as an immersive journey, the performance features the nine Ensemble Connect fellows each performing remotely from their own spaces. While exploring how music inspires movement and how movement inspires music, the program also includes structured improvisation based on body movements in collaboration with contemporary dance artist
Wendell Gray II, with the presentation directed and edited by Isabella LoRusso.
This virtual Up Close performance is presented in partnership with Skidmore College where Ensemble Connect, joined by Artistic Partner
Wendell Gray II, will participate in its biannual residency from February 22-26. Held virtually this season due to the ongoing pandemic, the residency allows the fellows of Ensemble Connect to connect with the Skidmore College students, local elementary schools, and the Saratoga Springs community online by offering master classes, lessons, class demonstrations, and interactive performances.
During the pandemic, the fellows of Ensemble Connect have continuously reinvented and reimagined what it means to connect and engage with audiences online, debuting the program's first ever virtual performance in November 2020 titled,
Up Close: United Through Separation, in collaboration with composer Reena Esmail and director Nathaniel Stevens, which is now available to view on demand.
Ensemble Connect is a two-year fellowship program for extraordinary young professional classical musicians residing in the US that prepares them for careers combining musical excellence with teaching, community engagement, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership. It offers top-quality performance opportunities, intensive professional development, and partnerships throughout the fellowship with New York City public schools. For more information about Ensemble Connect, visit
www.carnegiehall.org/ensembleconnect.
