New York Youth Symphony Announces 55th Season

New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), composed of orchestra, chamber, jazz, conducting, and composition programs, heads into the 2017/18 season with a new strategic plan to strengthen the organization's position as the premier, independent music education organization for ensemble training in the New York metropolitan area. NYYS has provided over 6,000 music students between ages 12 and 22 unparalleled opportunities to study with world-renowned artists and to perform at world-class venues including Carnegie Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Beyond their instruction, students gain valuable life skills - commitment, discipline, focus, collaboration - and friendships that last a lifetime.

The 2017/18 season will also mark the NYYS orchestra's first season under newly appointed music director Michael Repper.

Performances for the 2017/18 Season include:

ORCHESTRA

Michael Repper, music director

Sunday, November 5, 2017, 5 PM at United Palace of Cultural Arts
Sunday, November 19, 2017, 2 PM at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall
Hilary Purrington: Daylights (First Music commissioned world première)
Schumann: Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129 with Christine Lamprea, cello
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27

Sunday, March 4, 2018, 5 PM at United Palace of Cultural Arts
Sunday, March 18, 2018, 2 PM at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol
Thomas Kotcheff: go and (First Music commissioned world première)
Kevin Puts: Flute Concerto with Demarre McGill, flute
Dvo?ák: Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88, B. 163,

Sunday, May 27, 2018, 2 PM at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall
Gershwin: Cuban Overture
Peter Shin: Slant (First Music commissioned world première)
Barber: Knoxville: Summer 1915 with Julia Bullock, soprano
Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition

JAZZ

Andy Clausen, director

Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center:
Monday, December 11, 2017 at 7:30 & 9:30 PM with Ted Nash, saxophone.
Andrew Karboski: Groovement (First Music commissioned world première)

Monday, March 5, 2018 at 7:30 & 9:30 PM with Vuyo Sotashe, vocalist.
Nate Sparks: A Piece for the People (First Music commissioned world première by)

The Times Center:
Monday, May 14, 2018 at 7:30 PM with Maria Schneider, composer.
Jonathan Ragonese: Torgbui (First Music commissioned world première)

CHAMBER MUSIC

Dr. Lisa Tipton, director

Three performances:
Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at 8 PM at National Arts Club
Friday, April 27, 2018 at 7:30 PM at Tenri Cultural Institute
Thursday, May 3, 2018 at 7:30 PM at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall
Daniel McGee: Beneath My Shadow, I Look. (First Music commissioned world première)

COMPOSITION

Dr. Kyle Blaha, director

Wednesday, May 9, 2018, 7:30 PM at Leonard Nimoy Thalia, Symphony Space
Featuring original student compositions performed by members of all NYYS programs.

NYYS Orchestra, led by newly appointed music director Michael Repper, kicks off the season on Sunday, November 19, 2017 at 2pm with the first of three performances at Carnegie Hall, with emerging cellist Christine Lamprea performing Schumann's Cello Concerto. Ms. Lamprea will appear with the Orchestra as part of a new partnership with the Sphinx Organization, sponsored by the Roy and Shirley Durst Debut Series. The program will also feature Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 and the world première of Daylights by Hilary Purrington. The Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 2pm concert will feature acclaimed flutist Demarre McGill performing Kevin Puts' Flute Concerto. The program will also feature Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, Dvo?ák's Symphony No. 8, and the world première of go and by Thomas Kotcheff. The season concludes on Sunday, May 27, 2018 at 2pm with soprano Julia Bullock joining the orchestra for Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. The program will also feature Gershwin's Cuban Overture, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and the world première of Slant by Peter Shin.

NYYS Jazz, led by director Andy Clausen, will swing into the 2017/18 season showcasing both classic & contemporary arrangements of big band mainstays. Grammy Award-winning composer and saxophonist Ted Nash will join the jazz band at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola on Monday, December 11, 2017 at 7:30 and 9:30pm. Selections will include excerpts from Mr. Nash's Presidential Suite, an exploration of great political speeches of the 20th century dealing with the theme of freedom, and his Portrait in Seven Shades suite, inspired by the paintings of Monet, Dali, Matisse, Picasso and others. The program will also feature the world première of Groovement by Andrew Karboski. Up and coming South African jazz vocalist Vuyo Sotashe will join the band at Dizzy's on Monday, March 5, 2018 at 7:30 and 9:30pm, for a program of music from both continents, including the classic big band repertoire of the American Songbook, and newly commissioned arrangements of traditional Xhosa music. The program will also feature the world première of A Piece for the People by Nate Sparks. The jazz season will end on Sunday, May 14, 2018 at 7:30pm at The Times Center featuring multi Grammy Award-winning composer Maria Schneider as she joins the band in a program that caps off an extended residency with the ensemble, and will spotlight a rich cross-section of music from across her storied career. The program will also feature the world première of Torgbui by Jonathan Ragonese.

Now entering its 36th Anniversary Season, the NYYS Chamber Music program led by director Dr. Lisa Tipton, offers young musicians an opportunity to explore the often complex dialogue between instruments as a metaphor for learning skills that emphasize open communication, harmony, and compromise. An Evening with Friends is the underlying theme of each performance. National Arts Club will host the first of three exhilarating chamber performances starting on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 at 8pm, followed by Tenri Cultural Institute on Friday, April 27, 2018 at 7:30pm, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, May 3, 2018 at 7:30pm. Daniel McGee's Beneath My Shadow, I Look will receive its world premiere at Weill Recital Hall.

The Composition program, led by Dr. Kyle Blaha, has broken new ground in its acclaimed sessions for younger composers to examine orchestration styles, techniques, and skills. The annual Composition Date 2018 performance, to be held at Symphony Space on Wednesday, May 9, 2018, at 7:30pm, will include original student compositions performed by members of the Orchestra, Chamber Music, Jazz, and Apprentice Conducting programs.

As part of NYYS's commitment to strengthen ties with the community, the organization is launching its first in-school residency at KIPP Middle School Academy in the South Bronx, and continuing partnerships with the Harmony Program and Youth Orchestra of St. Luke's, both El Sistema-inspired programs. Free community concerts will be performed by all students, including the orchestra's performances at United Palace Cultural Arts in Washington Heights on Sunday, November 5, 2017 at 5pm and Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 5pm.

The NYYS Jazz band will extend its free community concerts out to Brooklyn at Sir D's Lounge on Monday, November 27 at 7:30pm and Greenwich House Music School on Tuesday, February 20 at 7:30pm. The Chamber Music students will perform at locations including Mt. Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital, James Lenox House, and more.

ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

Michael Repper is an emerging conductor of classical music, jazz, pops, and musical theater. A graduate of Stanford University, he recently completed his doctoral residency at the Peabody Conservatory of Music as a student of Gustav Meier and his longtime mentor, Marin Alsop. Mr. Repper was the Peabody Institute-Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Conducting Fellow for two seasons, and continues to work with the Peabody Institute ensembles. Mr. Repper holds leadership positions in several music organizations in the Baltimore area. He is currently Music Director of both the Northern Neck Orchestra and Baltimore Basilica, Assistant Conductor of the Concert Artists of Baltimore, and New Music Consultant for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Repper's international performances include a recent debut with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in Brazil, masterclasses with the Artes Nazionale Orchestra in Florence, Italy, and performances in Australia.

Andy Clausen is a New York-based composer, trombonist, bandleader, and graduate of The Juilliard School. He has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Frank Wess, Gerald Wilson, Kurt Elling, The After Midnight Orchestra, Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Dave Douglas, Wayne Horvitz, Andrew D'angelo, John Zorn, The American Brass Quintet, Feist, and My Brightest Diamond. The New York Times has described his work as "sleek, dynamic large-group jazz, a whirl of dark-hued harmony and billowing rhythm...The intelligent sheen of Mr. Clausen's writing was as striking as the composure of his peers...It was impressive, and not just by the yardstick of their age." He is a founding member of The Westerlies, a new music brass quartet whose 2014 debut Wish the Children Would Come on Home: The Music of Wayne Horvitz was met with critical acclaim from NPR Fresh Air, Jazz Times, and was named the NPR Jazz "Best Debut of 2014." His awards include the Gerald Wilson Prize for Composition from the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Emerging Artist of The Year, and Alternative Jazz Group of the Year Awards from the Earshot Jazz Festival, and the Lotos Foundation Prize. In addition, Mr. Clausen has been commissioned by The New York Times, Dell, Bloomberg and Blue Chalk Media to compose music for film and television.

Dr. Lisa Tipton, violinist and co-founder of the award-winning Meridian String Quartet, has toured internationally and held residencies at Queens College, Bard College, and the Turtle Bay Music School. She has won distinctions from the Evian International Competition, Artists International, and Chamber Music America. As a devoted interpreter of new music, Ms. Tipton established the "Made in America" series at Weill Recital Hall with pianist Adrienne Kim and has performed on the "Interpretations" series at Merkin Concert Hall. She performs regularly with Amici New York and the American Symphony Orchestra, and is a co-founder of NY Chamber Music CoOp. Ms. Tipton's recording of Ives' violin sonatas with Ms. Kim was released in 2006 on Capstone Records. She earned a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and a DMA at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Dr. Kyle Blaha received his D.M.A. and M.M. from Juilliard and his B.M. from Eastman School of Music with high distinction in composition, clarinet, and German. He has studied composition with Darrell Handel, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Carlos Sanchez Gutierrez, Samuel Adler, Philip Lasser, and Robert Beaser and Solfège with Mary Anthony Cox. He is faculty at the European American Musical Alliance Program in Paris and Ear Training faculty at The Juilliard School in the College, Evening, and Pre-College divisions. He has received multiple ASCAP Young Composer Awards and awards for study in German, including a Fulbright grant and a D.A.A.D. (German government) grant as well as Arabic study in Cairo, Egypt. Mr. Blaha's work has been premiered by the Juilliard Orchestra and multiple performances by the New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute and has received commissions from the NYYS, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the New Juilliard Ensemble, and the American Composers Orchestra.

ORCHESTRA SOLOISTS

Hailed a "firebrand" (Incident Light.com) and noted for her "supreme panache" (The Boston Musical Intelligencer), Colombian-American cellist Christine Lamprea was the First Prize winner of the 2013 Sphinx Competition. She joined the roster of the Sphinx Soloists Program, and as such is presented as soloist with major orchestras worldwide. She has also received awards from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, the Young Texas Artists' Competition and captured First Prize at the 2013 Schadt National String Competition. Ms. Lamprea has performed in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, in such venues as Alice Tully Hall, the Beethovenhaus, the Kennedy Center, and the Metropolitan Museum. She has participated in the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School, Perlman Music Program, the Banff Centre, and Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival, performing alongside such esteemed musicians as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Itzhak Perlman, Roger Tapping, and Carol Wincenc. She performs regularly in NYC with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players. Ms. Lamprea is the recipient of a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. She studied with Bonnie Hampton at The Juilliard School and holds a Master's degree from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Natasha Brofsky. Previous teachers include Ken Freudigman and Ken Ishii.

Winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, flutist Demarre McGill is acclaimed for his "richly saturated tone, spirited technique and expressive warmth" and has quickly become one of the most sought-after flutists of his generation. He has appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, and Buffalo Philharmonic, among others. Mr. McGill is a founding member of The Myriad Trio and has participated in many national and international chamber music festivals. In addition to his performance schedule, he is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Art of Élan, a chamber music organization in San Diego that aims to expose new audiences to classical music. Mr. McGill received his Bachelor's Degree in Flute Performance from The Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner. He continued his studies with Mr. Baker at the Juilliard School, where he received a Masters of Music degree.

Julia Bullock made her debut with the New York Philharmonic performing Bernstein's West Side Story Concert Suite No. 1 with Alan Gilbert in New York City parks, at Bravo! Vail, and in Santa Barbara. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut in concert performances of West Side Story conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas; an album of the concert was released on the orchestra's label in June 2014. A frequent collaborator of Steven Blier and Michael Barrett, Ms. Bullock has appeared numerous times with the New York Festival of Song, recently in the Harlem Renaissance program. She has performed the title role in Henry Purcell's The Indian Queen at the Perm Opera House, Teatro Real, and the English National Opera: the Peter Sellars production was captured and released commercially on DVD for Sony Classical. She has performed in South America as Pamina in Peter Brook's award-winning A Magic Flute. Other opera roles include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Monica in The Medium, and the title roles of Cendrillon, The Cunning Little Vixen, and L'enfant et les Sortilèges. Ms. Bullock earned her Bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music, and her Master's degree at Bard College's Graduate Vocal Arts Program.

JAZZ SOLOISTS

Grammy Award-winning composer and saxophonist Ted Nash was born into a musical family in Los Angeles. His father, Dick Nash, and uncle, the late Ted Nash, were both well-known jazz and studio musicians. The younger Nash exploded onto the jazz scene at eighteen, moved to New York and released his first album, Conception. He is co-leader of the Jazz Composers Collective and is constantly pushing the envelope in the world of "traditional jazz." His group Odeon has often been cited as a creative focus of jazz. Many of Mr. Nash's recordings have received critical acclaim, and have appeared on the "best of" lists in the New York Times, New Yorker, Village Voice, Boston Globe, and Newsday. His recordings, The Mancini Project and Sidewalk Meeting, have been placed on several "best-of-decade" lists. His album Portrait in Seven Shades was recorded by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and was released in 2010. Receiving two Grammy Awards, Mr. Nash's Presidential Suite is his most significant work. Inspired by great political speeches of the 20th century dealing with the theme of freedom, it is rich with social and political awareness.

Young South African jazz vocalist, Vuyo (Vuyolwethu) Sotashe, is gradually making his mark in the New York jazz scene. He moved to the NYC in 2013 after being awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to pursue Master of Music at William Paterson University. Since then, Mr. Sotashe has gone to win first prize at the very first Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival Vocal Competition in 2014, and performed on the festival's main stage in February of 2015. More recently, he won the Audience prize award and placed second over-all at the Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition in 2015, held at the annual Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. In the same he placed third in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Vocal competition, where he was the very first male vocalist ever to place in the competition's finals. Mr. Sotashe has also performed on international stages which include singing at the Arcevia Jazz Fest and the Fermo Jazz Festival in Italy 2012 among others. He has also performed with Multi-Grammy Award winning gospel artist, Israel Houghton as part of New Breed (Africa) Ensemble.

Maria Schneider's music has been hailed by critics as "evocative, majestic, magical, heart-stoppingly gorgeous, and beyond categorization." She and her orchestra became widely known starting in 1994 when they released their first recording, Evanescence. With that recording, Ms. Schneider began to develop her personal way of writing for her 17-member collective, made up of many of the finest musicians in jazz today, tailoring her compositions to distinctly highlight the uniquely creative voices of the group. Subsequently, the Maria Schneider Orchestra has performed at festivals and concert halls worldwide. She herself has received numerous commissions and guest conducting invites, working with over 85 groups from over 30 countries spanning Europe, South America, Australia, Asia and North America. Ms. Schneider's music blurs the lines between genres and she is on a very short list of those who have received Grammy Awards in both "jazz" and "classical". Her latest recording with Dawn Upshaw ('Winter Morning Walks') earned three 2014 Grammy Awards: Best Contemporary Classical Composition ('Winter Morning Walks'), Best Classical Vocal Performance (Dawn Upshaw), and Best Engineered Recording/Classical (David Frost, Brian Losch, Tim Martyn).

FIRST MUSIC COMPOSERS

Hilary Purrington is a New England-based composer of contemporary classical music. Her work has been recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), and the National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC), among others. In the summer of 2012, Ms. Purrington received funding through a Wagoner Foreign Study Grant to study Music Composition and German Language at the Freie Universität Berlin, and in the summer of 2013, she participated as a Fellow at the Yale School of Music Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. Most recently, she was featured on the 2016 NY Phil Biennial's New Music New Haven concert. Ms. Purrington's music has been performed by many distinguished ensembles, including the Peabody Modern Orchestra, the Yale Philharmonia, the American Modern Ensemble, and the ChoralArt Camerata. Recent commissions include new works for the Chicago Harp Quartet, the Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble, and the Melodia Women's Choir of NYC. Upcoming projects include commissions from Washington Square Winds, inFLUX, and the New York Youth Symphony. Ms. Purrington holds degrees from The Juilliard School and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. She is currently pursuing a Master of Musical Arts at the Yale School of Music.

A native of Los Angeles, Thomas Kotcheff music has been described as "truly beautiful and inspired" (icareifyoulisten.com) and "explosive" (Gramophone magazine). He has received commissions from The Aspen Summer Music Festival and School, The Los Angeles Philharmonic Committee, The Argus Quartet, Peabody Camerata, and Sandbox Percussion amongst others. Mr. Kotcheff has won numerous awards and honors including a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters among others. Mr. Kotcheff has been a composition fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic's National Composers Intensive, the Aspen Summer Music Festival and School, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Bennington Chamber Music Conference, and attended The Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival and the MusicX festival with eighth blackbird. Mr. Kotcheff holds degrees in composition and piano performance from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and The University of Southern California where he is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Music in music composition.

Peter S. Shin is a composer and visual artist whose music thrives on reacting to matters of national identity, social belonging, and other contemporary issues through his Korean-American lens. Recent honors include a 2017/18 Fulbright Research Grant to South Korea in order to compose an orchestral work at Seoul National University, and a 2017 Aspen Music Festival composition fellowship, among others. Other highlights include performances with the University of Southern California Thornton Symphony Orchestra, a saxophone quartet concerto with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard, TEDx, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and an Honorable Mention in the 2016 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards for his saxophone quartet, "MASS HYSTERIA," (finalist in 2014). Mr. Shin received his Bachelors in Composition from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and is currently pursuing his Masters in Composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music as a James Newton Howard Music Scholar.

Andrew Karboski is an award winning composer, most recently recognized for an original jazz composition. As a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, he studied under Grammy award winner Jim McNeely for four years. Beginning his journey into music composition at an early age, Mr. Karboski has written numerous works for Big Band, orchestra, and various small group ensembles in many styles including Swing, neoclassical, Afro-Cuban, and many more. Mr. Karboski is also an accomplished trombonist, performing around New York City on tenor and bass trombone in jazz settings. In rehearsal and concert Andrew has led diverse groups in performing music of his own and others. Beyond concert music, Mr. Karboski has studied the art of film music, scoring several films in collaboration with Columbia University film students.

Composer, pianist, and trumpeter Nate Sparks grew up in Runnells, Iowa and began playing the piano at age 7, trumpet at 11, and pursued jazz all throughout middle school and high school. In 2013 he began studying at The Juilliard School, where he also began his career as a writer. Since then Mr. Sparks has composed and arranged music for the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, Juilliard Trombone Choir, New York Trumpet Ensemble, University of Scranton Concert Band and Choir, and the Kyle Athayde Dance Party to name a few. He is the leader of the Nate Sparks Big Band, which performs entirely his own compositions, arrangements and transcriptions.

Jonathan Ragonese, composer-arranger-saxophonist, is a native of New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. He moved to New York City in 2007 to attend the Manhattan School of Music, he has lived and worked there since. As a saxophonist he has performed and recorded with a wide array of musicians including Steve Wilson, David Liebman, the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Tim Warfield, Tin Can Buddha and Steve Rudolph. As a composer Mr. Ragonese works have been commissioned and premiered by saxophonist Steve Wilson, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Museum of Modern Art, the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony, and the The Righteous Girls, Bucknell University, West Chester University and the Harrisburg Youth Symphony. In 2014 Mr. Ragonese premiered his 'Not-this' for two saxophones, at Carnegie Hall. He is an active educator, with lectures, writings, and the development of Music Before Words, a music program for infants with educator Renee Bock. His first recording, Ardent Marigolds, was released in 2013, a duo with musical father Steve Rudolph.

Dan McGee, a recent graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, double majored in composition with Dr. Cynthia Van Mannen and percussion with Keith Aleo. Mr. McGee also had the privilege of working with Nico Muhly, Molly Joyce, Ashley Fure, Hannah Lash, and Paul Rudy. While at Interlochen, many of his pieces were commissioned and performed by the Interlochen Arts Academy Dance Company, various chamber ensembles, and multiple soloists. Mr. McGee was recently named a finalist for the Morton Gould Young Composer Award, which was awarded by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). Mr. McGee is studying composition New England Conservatory.