​​​​​​​Las Vegas Philharmonic Champions Education Through Partnership With Nevada School Of The Arts

Las Vegas Philharmonic (LVP) and Nevada School of the Arts (NSA) announce the launch of an exciting collaboration that provides NSA's Chamber Orchestra students with intensive mentoring from LVP musicians in conjunction with NSA educators through a series of professional coaching and side-by-side performances. The initiative is the first program to debut under the Philharmonic's newly created Music SPARK program, which encompasses all of the organization's education and community engagement efforts under one umbrella; underscoring a bold commitment to building community through music, enriching lives through culture and igniting passion through education. The orchestra has a demonstrated and long history of providing access to music and education and Music SPARK further illustrates LVP's belief in their role in the Las Vegas community: Supporting Young Musicians, Providing Access & Resources, Kindling Passion.

Drawing upon the LVP and NSA's rich history of collaboration, the series is designed to deepen the impact to students by extending the mentoring and coaching and providing invaluable performance experience as they develop their craft. This inaugural series of formalized coaching serves as an incubation model for future programs and will consist of three sessions running in Fall and Spring of 2019-20. In the program, students will benefit from high level coaching, yielding opportunities to learn from and perform alongside esteemed professional musicians to broaden their technical abilities and repertoire. Students will refine skills, conquer new musical challenges and gain valuable insights through the mentoring program. Each session will culminate in a joint performance where students put the guidance they receive into practice by performing side-by-side with professional musicians from the LVP and NSA. The concerts will be open to the public and admission is free.

The first session of the series launched November 4 with students and professionals coming together for two hours of individual instruction and coaching in preparation for a performance that will take place on Sunday, December 8 at 5:00 p.m. in NSA's auditorium. The performance will showcase students and LVP musicians playing side by side in a robust program featuring first movements of popular works by Bach, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, titled Symphonic Developments.

Full schedule for the side-by-side concerts are as follows:

Sunday, December 8, 2019 at Nevada School of the Arts Auditorium at 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 1, 2020 at Green Valley Presbyterian Church at 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 3 at Nevada School of the Arts Auditorium at 3:00 p.m.

"The Las Vegas Philharmonic is deeply committed to young musicians in Las Vegas, and is thrilled to be partnering with NSA to launch a new program bringing the talent of LVP musicians into the education system more directly," shares LVP Executive Director, Lacey Huszcza. "Not only does coaching and mentoring provide young musicians with a deeper knowledge of music and performance practice, side-by-side concerts are a great way for students to experience playing at a higher level and get that thrill of live performance. The amazing thing is that even the mentors and coaches tend to learn something and take new ideas and emotions into their other performances. It is truly win-win."

"Performing side-by-side with professional musicians of the Las Vegas Philharmonic is a powerful and valuable learning experience for students," adds Shakeh Ghoukasian, principal 2nd violin of LVP and artistic director of NSA. "Even today, I remember the joy and pride I felt as a student sitting on the same stage with experienced musicians and performing great works of literature so I am thrilled to be part of offering this special experience to our students."

Patrick Duffy, president & CEO of NSA comments, "Collaboration in the Las Vegas valley as related to Art in all disciplines is essential to fortifying students with the very best practices as they embark on life. Nevada School of the Arts is honored to partner with the venerable Las Vegas Philharmonic in spearheading this enrichment program to unite young and tenured musicians in the creation of music, which ignites limitless passion."

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