LA Phil Unites Neighborhoods Through YOLA NEIGHBORHOOD PROJECT

On Saturday, March 12th, over 800 kindergarten and first grade students will come together with their local YOLA orchestras - YOLA EXPO Center Youth Orchestra from South L.A. and YOLA at HOLA (Heart of Los Angeles) from the Rampart District - to perform two free concerts at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown L.A. These performances are a culmination of the YOLA Neighborhood Project - a project inspired by the Harlem Children's Zone (http://www.hcz.org/), aimed at building healthy communities through a combination of education and concert programs.

Nine participating schools within a 5-mile radius of the two YOLA sites - The EXPO Center and HOLA - recently received a 9-week residency from an LA Phil Teaching Artist that focused on the study and rehearsal of the traditional Shaker folk tune "Simple Gifts." As students learned to sing the piece in preparation for these special performances at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, they explored nine simple gifts beginning with the gift of music and building to the gifts of family, community and self. Each performance of "Simple Gifts," especially arranged for YOLA orchestra with a choir of over 400 neighborhood students, will be led by conductor and Dudamel Fellow Manuel López.

"The YOLA Neighborhood Project represents an evolution of the LA Phil's pre-existing education and community programs - school programs, neighborhood concerts, and YOLA - leveraging the strengths of each to create zones of musical activity in specific neighborhoods and provide multiple entry points into the world of music and the work of the LA Phil. Schools were selected for this project based on their commitment to in-school music education," said Deborah Borda, President and CEO, Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. "Our goal is to saturate the two neighborhoods in which YOLA is currently situated, South LA and the Rampart District, with high-quality music and music-making opportunities for youth, families, and the community at large. We are excited to be the catalyst for musical collaboration at the earliest stage in these students' lives."

Performances take place at 12 pm and 6 pm. The 12 pm concert will feature the South LA Community including a collaborative orchestral performance between Foshay Middle School and West Adams Preparatory High School, the YOLA EXPO Center Youth Orchestra Program and kindergarten and 1st grade students from Vermont Elementary, Alexander Science Center Elementary and CRES #17. The 6 pm performance will include the YOLA at HOLA Youth Orchestra and students from CharLes White Elementary, Charles H. Kim Elementary, Commonwealth Elementary and Camino Nuevo Charter Academy.

Youth Orchestra LA (YOLA)

Youth Orchestra LA (YOLA) is the Los Angeles Philharmonic's initiative to provide access to free, high quality instrumental and orchestral education in order to promote youth development. Central to YOLA is the LA Phil's plan to build, with community partners, youth orchestras in underserved communities throughout Los Angeles. YOLA families are engaged in making music themselves while supporting their children's development, with the vision that YOLA neighborhoods become vibrant centers of musical culture with a deepened sense of community. YOLA is inspired by El Sistema, the Venezuelan music education system that nurtured the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Music Director, Gustavo Dudamel. The YOLA EXPO Center Youth Orchestra, the first project of YOLA, is a partnership among the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, The Harmony Project, the EXPO Center and the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. The YOLA EXPO Center Youth Orchestra has empowered hundreds of students since its inception in 2007, and serves students ages 2-17 from more than 60 schools in its five-mile radius. In September 2010, the LA Phil launched the second YOLA site at Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA), an after-school community center in LA's Rampart District. YOLA at HOLA engages 100 first and fourth graders who are immersed in instrument instruction, singing/solfège, musicianship, ensembles, and daily academic tutoring. This year, classes will be added as other students continue, leading to the organic development of orchestras at the heart of the program.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under the vibrant leadership of Gustavo Dudamel, presents the finest in orchestral and chamber music, recitals, new music, jazz, world music and holiday concerts at two of the most remarkable locations anywhere to experience music - Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. In addition to a 30-week winter subscription season at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the LA Phil presents a 12-week summer festival at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the Association's involvement with Los Angeles extends to educational concerts, children's programming and community concerts, ever seeking to provide inspiration and delight to the broadest possible audience. www.LAPhil.com.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.