Expanding Access with
the West Side
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We're thrilled to announce that we are in the process of creating a new community-driven music instruction program for students on the West Side of St. Paul.
After holding listening sessions and conversations with the West Side community last summer, we learned that there is great interest for music instruction, and enthusiasm for partnering with GTCYS to provide a highly accessible music program for students. We are grateful for the generous support from the Bigelow Foundation, St. Paul Foundation, and the Mardag Foundation which will help launch this endeavor.
As we embark on this long-term collaborative project, we look forward to continuing to build meaningful relationships with community members while establishing a musical presence on the West Side through activities like our upcoming free concert at Neighborhood House (details below). This collaborative approach will be used to lay the groundwork for an El Sistema-inspired pilot program for young children that will provide instruments and likely include lessons with local string specialists, ensemble participation, and mentoring
by GTCYS students.
Because students who participate in music programs build valuable skills that help them succeed in school and beyond, we anticipate that the evolution of this new program will have a long-lasting impact for students and will strengthen the West Side and GTCYS communities.
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We hope you'll join us for a free family-friendly concert to celebrate our new partnership with the West
Side community:
Sinfonia Community Concert
Sunday, February 28 at 4:00pm
Music and dance will inspire children of all ages! Join us for a fun concert that includes orchestral music and a special performance by the Mexican folkloric dance group
Los Alegres Bailadores
. Stay after the concert to try an instrument, ask questions, and enjoy refreshments. Everyone is welcome!
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A Word from the West Side
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Christine Shyne is invested in connecting underserved kids with the arts, and as Executive Director of West Side Community Organization, she helps empower residents to participate in and advocate for solutions to West Side community issues. We asked her about the community's needs and the potential impact of a new music education program. This is what she had to say:
"Having an opportunity for the youth in our community to participate in quality music programming fulfills one of the very strong themes that we saw in our community planning process, including having vibrant arts and culture, strengthening and supporting after school programming for youth, and increasing art programs for youth and families.
Our schools have had many cuts to specialty programming, especially in arts and music. Research has shown that musical instruction can help increase young students' language, reading, and math skills. Music also provides outlets for young people to express themselves, and to be together in positive and affirming ways. And making music is just fun! Many of our families are strapped and can't afford the cost of outside music lessons. Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies can help to bridge that gap."
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Music Makes Us Whole
We are honored to be part of the Music Makes Us Whole coalition that advocates the importance of a rich music education for every young person. We encourage you to get involved! Learn more at
www.musicmakesuswhole.org
.
Support GTCYS
We provide affordable programming and need-based scholarships because we believe in the truly transformative power of music education. You can join us in making this experience available to more young musicians with a tax-deductible donation to GTCYS. You'll help provide $50,000 in need-based scholarships, keep tuition affordable, and support our free concerts which share uplifting music with diverse audiences. To make a contribution,
please visit our website
. Thank you! Your gift will have a lasting impact on students and our community.
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Spotlight on our Partner
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
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Upcoming Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra performance:
Thursday, February 18 at 7:30pm
Friday, February 19 at 8:00pm - BEST AVAILABILITY
Saturday, February 20 at 8:00pm
Hindemith: Kleine Kammermusik, Opus 24, No. 2
Hartmann: Concerto funebre
Mozart: Symphony No. 41, Jupiter
A program of emotionally rich music highlights the expressive range of the SPCO's renowned string section and the vibrancy and virtuosity of the SPCO winds. Hindemith's Little Chamber Music for winds is one of the finest works in the wind quintet literature. Concertmaster Steven Copes is soloist on Hartmann's heartbreaking Concerto funebre for violin and string orchestra, a piece that the composer conceived as an expression of and antidote to the "intellectual and spiritual hopelessness" of World War II Germany. The second half of the program features Mozart's glorious Jupiter Symphony, a perennial favorite of SPCO audiences.
The February 19 concert is sponsored by Emerson Process Management.
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Feature on GTCYS conductor
Dr. Benjamin Klemme.
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Symphony Concert: Brahms' Second
Sunday, February 21 at 2:00pm
2128 Fourth St. S, Minneapolis
Mark Russell Smith, conductor
Tickets: $6 - $10 in advance; $10 - $14 at the door. Purchase online, at the door, or call 651.291.1144
Brahms' Symphony No. 2 performed in its entirety will uplift audiences with its sumptuous melodies and robust sonorities. From its varied opening movement to its rousing conclusion, this is Brahms' most sweeping and optimistic work. The program also features a special performance by GTCYS' Philharmonia West musicians and a string quartet from the Chamber Music Institute program with GTCYS and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Concertino Community Concert
Saturday, March 5 at 10:00am
560 Concordia Ave., St. Paul
Dan Mollick
, conductor
This fun performance by Concertino orchestra will inspire children of all ages! Join us for a unique concert that includes the world premiere of Mary Casanova's children's book One Dog Sleigh narrated by MPR's Alison Young with new music by composer Sarah Miller. The concert includes music from Star Wars, the ballet Swan Lake, and more.
Philharmonic Community Concert
Sunday, March 6 at 4:00pm
2400 Lindbergh Drive, Minnetonka
Gary Wolfman, conductor
Tickets: $6 at the door
This concert features a special performance with Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs and conductor Philip Brown. Music includes the iconic works of two great American composers, Morton Gould and Aaron Copland, as well as Russian favorite Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
2016-17 Auditions
May 19 - 22 & June 3 - 5, 2016
2016 Summer Programs
GTCYS' three summer orchestras at the at the University of Minnesota's School of Music in Minneapolis and a string orchestra camp in downtown St. Paul provide fun and challenging orchestral experiences for string, woodwind, brass, and percussion students of all abilities, ages 8 - 18. No auditions required; scholarships available.
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