New Jersey Youth Symphony Hosts Virtual Playathon, Sunday, March 21, at 3:00 p.m. FREE
The New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS) hosts
A Virtual Playathon
The event will feature virtual ensemble performances,
raffles, trivia contests, and interviews with NJYS conductors, as well as a
live auction to win the conductor’s baton and the chance to conduct the New
Jersey Youth Symphony performing John Williams’ Superman. WNYC’s Weekend
Edition and The
Christie Tracker Podcast Host
David Furst will preside as the event’s emcee.
The annual fundraiser raises nearly $100,000 for the organization to support
performing arts education, including scholarships and tuition assistance for
New Jersey’s largest youth orchestra program. This year, NJYS students are
participating in a practice challenge to help raise funds for the event and have
logged 279,500 minutes to date. To support music education at the New Jersey
Youth Symphony and the 2021 Playathon, continue to give by texting MUSIC to
74121 or donating online at www.WhartonArtsDonate.org.
Said Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Helen H. Cha-Pyo, “Although we
cannot be together in person, the New Jersey Youth Symphony is super excited to
present a virtual orchestra of over 300 musicians performing two of our
Playathon favorites, Can-Can and Superman. We will also feature
newly-created virtual performances by our Clarinet Ensemble and Charles Mingus
Jazz Combo, as well as video messages from graduating seniors. It will be a
true celebration of our beloved NJYS community and beyond!”
The New
Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS), founded in 1979, is a tiered orchestral
program offering ensemble education for students in grades 3-12 across New
Jersey. NJYS has grown from one orchestra of 65 students to over 500 students
in 15 different orchestras and ensembles, including the internationally
recognized Youth Symphony. NJYS ensembles have performed in venues
including the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Carnegie Hall, and the John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. NJYS has received numerous prestigious
awards for its adventurous programming from the American Society of Composers,
Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and has had six European tours, including
participation in the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Festival and
Competition (Vienna), winning First Prizes in July 2014 and 2017.
The New Jersey Youth Symphony is a program of the Wharton Institute
for the Performing Arts. Wharton is New Jersey’s largest non-profit
performing arts education organization serving over 1,500 students of all ages
and abilities through a range of classes and ensembles. In addition to the New
Jersey Youth Symphony, programs include the Paterson Music Project, an
El Sistema-inspired program that uses music as a vehicle for social change by
empowering and inspiring children through the community experience of ensemble
learning and playing in its hometown of Paterson. Beginning with early
childhood music classes for toddlers, the Performing Arts School offers
500 private lessons and group classes each week, ensuring there is something
for everyone of all ages and abilities.
