NJYS Announces New Season with Focus on Digital Collaborations

NEW PROVIDENCE—The New Jersey Youth Symphony, a program of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts, has announced that it will open the 2020-21 season with new and compelling online education programs that include 15 master classes and 12 webinars with world-renowned guest artists and educators. With a hybrid schedule of both online and socially distant outdoor rehearsals, students will also participate in over 30 online classes weekly ranging from music theory, composition, and ear training to jazz history, video editing, how to improve sight-reading skills, and fiddling in an unprecedented elevation of both the quantity and breadth of educational programming. Following the U.S. Youth Orchestras eFestival on September 20 with fellow programs from Chicago, Hawaii, Los Angeles, and Texas, live performances at venues around the state of New Jersey will be replaced with a digital format that has opened new doors of artistic collaborations for the New Jersey Youth Symphony, now in its 42nd season.

Said Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Helen H. Cha-Pyo, “In addition to this season’s online enrichment offerings, our students will have the opportunity to participate in #StayHomeandPlay, a social media campaign to share music beyond the online classroom. Recordings of the young musicians’solo performances at home will be compiled into a digital concert and sent to nursing homes and assisted living facilities for residents to enjoy as a calming respite during this time of social distancing. Thanks to constantly evolving technology, our students will be able to share the gift of music and spread a message of hope to a wider audience despite the pandemic.”

“In these challenging times, our team has made all the necessary efforts to turn our programs into a vibrant virtual environment,” said Peter H. Gistelinck, Executive Director of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, a program of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts. “While in-person teaching remains critical and an important component of all of our education programs, the online environment is also creating new opportunities that definitely will expand the footprint of all of our offerings.”

The Monday Master Class Series launches this fall and imbues the essence of the New Jersey Youth Symphony’s originally scheduled season, including artists, genres, and diversity, and offers its students a rare touchpoint with professional symphony orchestra musicians and leaders in today’s world of performing arts education. The digital series, expanding the limits of what would have been possible to present in person due to the cost and logistics, features a wide variety of acclaimed instrumentalists. The series kicked off on September 14 with newly appointed Oberlin Conservatory faculty member and French hornist Jeffrey Scott and includes Cleveland Orchestra Principal Clarinet Afendi Yusuf on November 2, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Principal Bass Ha Young Jung on November 9, and Seattle Symphony Principal Flute Demarre McGill on December 7, as well as instructors from The Juilliard School, University of Massachusetts, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. The Monday Master Class Series takes place weekly from 7:00-8:15 p.m. EST through December 14. Viewing for this online series is free via Zoom.

Friday Webinars at Wharton Arts is a series dedicated to making authentic connections between art and life through the sharing of stories, expertise, and creations by guest artists of varied disciplines. Curated and hosted by Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Helen H. Cha-Pyo, the series begins with an exploration of Women in Jazz with Grammy-nominated saxophonist Tia Fuller and pianist Shamie Royston on October 2 and includes Santa Fe Opera’s This Little Light of Mine: Story of Fanny Lou Hamer on October 30, Domhnaill Hernon, Director of Experiments in Arts and Technology at Nokia Bell Labs on November 13, and Practicing for Skills vs. Practicing for Performance with Dr. Noa Kageyama on December 4. Audience members will enjoy a personal touch to the online experience with guest artists who are eager to engage with the students and community via virtual events. Friday Webinars at Wharton Arts take place weekly from 7:00-8:00 p.m. EST through December 11. Viewing for this online series is free via Zoom or on WhartonArts.tv.

For more information on the Monday Master Class Series and Friday Webinars at NJYS as well as the full line-up of guest artists, visit NJYS.org.