Philadelphia Youth Orchestra to Perform at Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall, Conducted by Maestro Louis Scaglione

The talented members of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra will perform at the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall, located at Broad and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. on February 23, 2020 at 3 p.m. The ensemble, conducted by Maestro Louis Scaglione, has earned nationwide acclaim for their advanced talent.

The afternoon's program will open with Samuel Barber's Medea's Dance of Vengeance, then proceed with Dmitri Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 and conclude with Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3. The music is suitable for an audience of all ages.

Described by critics as "scintillating" and celebrated for her "rich, expressive playing" (MusicalAmerica), violinist Francesca dePasquale is the First Prize winner of the 2010 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and recipient of the prestigious 2014-2016 career grant from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts. Earning the 2015 Classical Recording Foundation Young Artist Award, her self-titled debut album released in March of 2016 and accompanying recital tour was praised for "sincerity, intensity" and "individual voice" (Philadelphia Inquirer), and "immaculate and discreet phrasing" (Strad Magazine). An active chamber musician, dePasquale, the violinist of the Aletheia Piano Trio, is on the roster for Manhattan Chamber Players, and performs frequently with Chameleon Arts Ensemble and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She joins the violin faculty at Oberlin Conservatory in the Fall of 2020. Additionally, she is assistant violin and chamber music faculty for the Juilliard School Pre-College Program, and on the faculty of the Heifetz International Music Institute. She is an alumna of Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. For more information, please visit francescadepasquale.com.

Scaglione, President and Music Director of the PYO organization, takes great pride in dePasquale's accomplishments and is proud to have this former PYO student be the soloist with the orchestra. He said, "It is always a treat for Francesca to be our guest soloist. She is a most gifted violinist who serves as an outstanding role model for our students."

Tickets for the PYO Concert are only $20-30 and can be purchased through Ticket Philadelphia by calling 215.893.1999. The music is suitable for an audience of five year olds and up.

About the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra:

The renowned Philadelphia Youth Orchestra organization, now in its 80th season, is one of the nation's oldest and most respected community music education and youth orchestra performance programs. Training tomorrow's leaders, PYO provides talented young musicians from across the tri-state area with exceptional musical training. Students go on to excel in many diverse fields, and it is with pride that Philadelphia Youth Orchestra notes that many members of the prestigious Philadelphia Orchestra are alumni. For more information, please visit www.pyos.org.

The anchor group is the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra (PYO), conducted by President and Music Director Louis Scaglione, featuring 130 gifted instrumentalists who range in age from 14-21. Young musicians 12-18 years old are featured in PYO's companion ensemble, the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra (PYAO), which is led by Director and Conductor Maestra Rosalind Erwin, who is Music Director and Conductor of Drexel University Orchestra. Philadelphia Young Musicians Orchestra (PYMO), directed by Maestro Kenneth Bean, is a beginning to intermediate-level full symphonic orchestra that provides most students with their first introduction to large orchestral playing featuring students age 10-17 years old. Bravo Brass, directed by Curtis Institute of Music Dean, Paul Bryan, is an all-brass ensemble for promising middle and high-school instrumentalists. PRYSM (Philadelphia Region Youth String Music) and PRYSM Young Artists ensembles provide string large ensemble and sectional master class instruction for beginning and intermediate musicians ages 6-14. The director and conductor of PRYSM is Gloria DePasquale, cellist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and conductor of PRYSM Young Artists is Andrea Weber. Tune Up Philly (TUP) is PYO's after-school music program, directed by Paul Smith, that focuses on creating and inspiring true community by providing children in under- resourced communities with invaluable opportunities to learn and perform a differentiated orchestral music curriculum.

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