SIX ATLANTA MUSIC PROJECT STUDENTS SELECTED TO ATTEND NATIONAL TAKE A STAND FESTIVAL IN ASPEN, COLORADO

Selected Students Performed In Regional Orchestra Conducted By Robert Spano

 

Atlanta, Ga. – Six Atlanta middle school and high school students were selected for the LA Philharmonic’s National Take a Stand Festival this summer from June 24 – June 29, 2016. These students will participate in a regional orchestra, made up of other orchestra students from El Sistema-inspired programs throughout the United States. In its final concert, the festival orchestra will be conducted by Robert Spano, Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School and Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Student musicians were selected for the festival based on a rigorous application process, including a written application, recorded audition and video essay. The selected students from Atlanta live in South Fulton County and attend the Atlanta Music Project’s after-school music education program throughout the school year.

Atlanta students selected for the National Take a Stand Festival in 2016

Nyasjah Brooks, viola, grade 9
Alivia Carter, double bass, grade 9
Donovan Fuller, violin, grade 7
Danielle Liburd, cello, grade 10
Khyler Powell, trombone, grade 8
Joshua Sheperd, double bass, grade 7

The National Take a Stand Festival is designed and implemented by the LA Phil, Venezuela’s FundaMusical, Aspen Music Festival and School, Bard College, and Longy School of Music of Bard College, in cooperation with El Sistema USA to strengthen student leaders in the El Sistema movement both musically and socially.

The National Take a Stand Festival is an unprecedented initiative to create a unified national platform for El Sistema-inspired programs throughout the United States. By offering young people the opportunity to learn from exceptional musicians, become ambassadors of their programs, and for many travel out of state for the first time, the project aims to develop a model for excellence and a national community of citizen musicians from historically excluded populations in the United States. World-renowned conductors, guest artists, and master teachers brought their artistry and mentorship to students from underserved communities across the United States who have been learning in El Sistema-influenced programs.

The National Take a Stand Festival is a three-year project that began in 2015 with a teacher training and pilot program, followed by the formation of regional youth orchestra camps in 2016, culminating in a 7-day national youth orchestra camp in 2017, featuring a final performance led by LA Phil Music Director Gustavo Dudamel.

An international team of top teachers, working together with faculty from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Longy School of Music of Bard College, Aspen Music Festival and School and Venezuela’s FundaMusical, lead the youth orchestra camps. Robert Spano, Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School, and Leon Botstein, President of Bard College and Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the groups as part of the regional youth orchestras’ final performances in 2016.

Since being introduced to the U.S. in 2006, El Sistema has taken root in over 60 underserved communities across the country and today engages more than 10,000 students. As the movement matures, there is a critical need to move from independent organizations and programs to a cohesive network that shares philosophy, standards of practice, resources and vision. The National Take a Stand Festival will work in tandem with El Sistema USA, which serves as a resource network and advocate for the El Sistema movement in the U.S., to reach this goal.

About  the National Take a Stand Festival

Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of YOLA (Youth Orchestra LA) – the LA Phil’s El Sistema-inspired program – students from the regional orchestras will combine in Los Angeles for a 7-day national youth orchestra camp, culminating in a performance led by Gustavo Dudamel.

The National Take a Stand Festival builds on the success of the 2014 Leadership Forum for Young Musicians, part of Take a Stand 2014, which engaged student leaders from 16 El Sistema programs in the U.S. It is an evolution of Take a Stand– a national initiative, formed by the LA Phil in partnership with Bard College, and the Longy School of Music of Bard College, to advance work that supports social change through music. For more information about the National Take a Stand Festival, please visit http://www.laphil.com/education.

About the Atlanta Music Project

Founded in 2010, the Atlanta Music Project provides intensive, tuition-free music education for underserved youth right in their neighborhood. Now in its sixth year of programming and serving 200 students at four sites, AMP provides all its students with an instrument, a teaching artist, classes and numerous public performance opportunities. AMP does not hold entrance auditions – the only requirement is a commitment to attending all classes. AMP’s programs include: the AMP Orchestra; AMPlify, the choral program of the Atlanta Music Project; the AMP Academy, which provides advanced musical training to AMP’s most talented and dedicated students; and the AMP Summer Series, a music festival and school. AMP’s young artists have performed at Atlanta’s most prestigious venues, including the Woodruff Arts Center, Spivey Hall, and the Rialto Center for the Arts. In 2015 Clayton State University established the Atlanta Music Project Endowed Scholarships, providing scholarship funds for AMP students choosing to attend Clayton State as music majors and music minors. In the next two years, AMP will expand to serve more than 300 students at multiple sites. For more information visit www.atlantamusicproject.org.