Brackets for Good - off to a start!

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra was selected to participate in Brackets for Good this year on behalf of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra.  Brackets for Good is an online fundraising tournament inspired by March Madness. 16 Indy-based non-profits are competing to score more points (raise more $) for the final prize of an additional $5000. The scores reset every week - so if you make it through to the next round it's an even playing field.  We are currently in Round 1.  Each round ends at 11:59pm on Sundays.

Every dollar donated for MYO on their website goes to support our program, win or lose! 

Stay up-to-date on the latest figures and donate now!

http://indianapolis.bracketsforgood.org/

Art and Soul on February 23

 

Join us on Saturday for a free performance of our Orchestra D ensembles.  The performers will include little ones as young as 5 up to and including grandparents!

 

We'll have a few moments of audience participation, so come to have some fun with us on Saturday.

MYO is gearing up for a busy spring!

MYO is in the midst of a great season and here are a few more places where you can spot us:

Tuesday, February 5 - Orchestra B performed at the ISO's Celebration of Black History Concert.  Check out our Facebook page for pictures from this event! 

Saturday, February 23 - Orchestra D ensembles will perform at the Arts Council's Art and Soul Festival.  See more details about the lineup here: http://www.indyarts.org/art-soul.  The concert begins at 1:00 pm at the Indianapolis Artsgarden.

Sunday, March 3 - Orchestra A and B students will perform solo pieces in recitals held at Broadway United Methodist Church (609 E 29th Street).  Performances begin at 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm.  Recitals are free and open to the public. 

Sunday, March 10 - This isn't an MYO performance, but MYO families will get to experience the ISO's SymFUNy Sundays "Dance to the Music" concert together!  Click here for details about this fun and exciting concert and to purchase tickets. 



MYO families rehearsing for the 2012 Concerto Concert

Sunday, March 17 - Orchestras A and B will perform a Concerto Concert at Broadway United Methodist Church (609 E 29th Street).  The concert is free and open to the public and will begin at 3:00 pm.  We will feature middle and high school age soloists on works by Bach, Vivaldi, Seitz and more. The Kokomo Symphony Youth Orchestra will be our invited guest performers as well.

Sunday, April 14 - Orchestra A and B students will perform solo pieces in recitals held at Broadway United Methodist Church (609 E 29th Street). Performances begin at 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm. Recitals are free and open to the public.

Sunday, May 19 - Join us for our wild and crazy Jazz and Jam!  We will feature all of our orchestras in this performance of jazz repertoire at the Hilbert Circle Theatre. Once again, this concert is free and open to the public, so join us for a fun-filled afternoon of great music and celebration.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we approach Thanksgiving this week, many of us take time to reflect on what we're thankful for and expressing our thanks to friends and family. 

Today, we continue our appreciation of the ISOA, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Association.  Here's a link to their webpage and more information, but I've provided some information below to introduce you to this wonderful group:

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Association is all about Music for the Kids
We are the proud presenting sponsor of the Young People's Discovery Concerts giving youngsters a chance to see and hear a live orchestra.

• We offer the Maurer Young Musicians Contest in which talented young people compete for an opportunity to appear with the ISO
• Another project is Symphony in Color, an art contest in which children and teens create works of art while listening to classical music in the classroom
• We support the Side-by-Side concert which allows students to play alongside an orchestra member in a live concert.
• The ISOA, along with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, supports the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra.

I have had the joy of working alongside volunteers that are members of the ISOA and watching as many of them get to know the MYO families through instruction and mentorship. 

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to welcome guests from the ISOA as we appreciated all they have done and continue to do for the MYO program:

• Inventory donated instruments
• Provide office assistance
• Mentor students at rehearsals
• Assist with music instruction

Thank you to the ISOA!

Introducing our friends from The Pride Academy

Something special is happening on the near eastside of Indianapolis every Tuesday afternoon.  Betty Perry, Artistic Director of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, teaches a class of 3 and 4 year olds to learn patience, appreciation for their own and one another’s gifts, and of course how to play the violin.  Only a few weeks into the class, the students are already engaged and excitedly ask their teachers if today is orchestra day. 

Ms. Perry teaches the class (a pilot program for MYO) weekly at the Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center located on the campus of Arsenal Technical High School.  The Legacy Center is a new facility that has already embraced this boisterous, but charming group of students.  The kids serenade the reception and office staff each time they depart, to great applause.

The children in this class and two other weekly classes for K - 3rd grade students come from a child care center, called Pride Academy.  The three Pride Academy centers are run by Alisia Jackson and her devoted team of teachers. Many of the students have a challenging and sometimes transient home life, but the staff are committed to making each day bright and hopeful.  In addition to attending weekly lessons with the students and learning with them, the staff have incorporated daily lesson time into the curriculum.  Adult presence and participation is a part of the basic mission of the MYO program, and the teachers of the child care have taken this on with enthusiasm! 

Learn more about Pride Academy here.

MYO Makes Music with Marsh

Did you know you can support the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra simply by shopping at Marsh? 

Between June 11 and July 15, Marsh Supermarkets will partner with MYO to help raise money for the youth and family development program.  At your Marsh check-out scanner, you will have the opportunity to donate $1, $3, or $5 to MYO.

The cost for one student to participate in MYO is $1,800 yet tuition is set at $180 to ensure that no qualified young person be prohibited from participating due to financial need. By donating to MYO you will help the ISO provide lessons and orchestra experience at a relatively low cost to all members.

We hope you’ll help support this trans-formative program by participating this summer!

Congrats to Betty Perry!

for winning the MYO chili cook off this past Sunday

In celebration of the end of an extraordinary season we held a picnic at Garfield Park on Sunday, June 3, which included a highly competitive chili cookoff among MYO teachers, parents and donors. No one was surprised by the winning chili, made by our own MYO Artistic Director Betty Perry. The competition was very stiff though and many people were talking about the cinnamon in the Bottom's Family chili and the roasted peppers in Dr. Kathryn Vanderwater-Piercy's chili. Still Betty pulled ahead to win her second chili cook off this year. About 125 people showed up to eat and grill out in the perfect weather. 

 

 The talks for next year's cook out have already begun at we are thinking RIB COOK OFF!

 

Thank you for another successful year of MYO!

(MYO members at the Highland Country Club for the Making Music, Changing Lives Fundraiser)

The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra has had quite a busy and successful year with over 10 chamber performances, hundreds of lessons, 3 full MYO concerts, a dozens of recitals. 

This past weekend we hosted a potluck and final concert of the season at the Broadway United Methodist Church. BUMC has been a great partner throughout the year to MYO as we have hosted many concerts and special events there. Thanks to Lorain Laswell for the below pictures that she took that afternoon.

What are your summer plans?

All MYO students are encouraged to continue practicing their instruments over the summer. Here are a few camps that many of our students attend. Check them out!

• Strings and Jazzy Things: www.philharmonicindy.org  
• Butler University summer camps: http://www.butler.edu/community-arts-school/events-calendar/ 

                     For Strings:  http://www.butler.edu/community-arts-school/summer-programs/strings-scholars-camp  
                      Special MYO enrollment applications will be made available as soon as possible. 

• Music for All Summer Symposium: http://www.musicforall.org/what-we-do/summer-camp 
• IU Jacobs School of Music Summer String Academy for Violinists, Violists, and Cellists: http://music.indiana.edu/precollege/summer/string/index.shtml 
• University of Indianapolis Chamber Music Institute: http://music.uindy.edu/cmc/cmi.php

MYO Visits From the Top

Last week Betty visited From the Top as they recorded at the Palladium.

Broadcast on over 200 stations nationwide to an audience of more than 700,000 listeners each week, From the Top is one of the most popular classical music programs on radio.

To see more photos and get more information on From the Top visit these sites:

http://www.fromthetop.org/listen

http://greenroom.fromthetop.org/

https://www.facebook.com/FromtheTopFans


Photo: Betty Perry and 13 yr old Evelyn Mo, pianist, and Myles Robinson from MYO Orchestra A

ISO Staff Experience the Program

Much of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra staff doesn't get to experience the magic that is MYO on a regular basis. Often busy writing grant proposals, planning the next season or developing programs, there's practically no time. Thanks to Ruth and Betty many ISO staff were able to travel back in time and remember what it was to be 10. Last Wednesday, Ruth and Betty held an interactive session for ISO staff and it was a blast!

Check out this video of ISO staff playing with MYO teachers!

MYO Mariachi 2011

Welcome to the first of a series of Summer 2011 blogs highlighting some of the wonderful opportunities MYO students have had around our community, around our state and beyond.

MYO Teachers Danielle Yeti and Jose Valencia facilitated our very first Mariachi Workshop and our dear friends at Broadway United Methodist Church were kind enough to host and provide some extra decor!

We had a great time, with 11 participants and a brilliantly bright and hot afternoon - like so many we've had recently. We've provided a few pictures from the performance. I'm working on posting the video as well. Stay tuned! Remember that all of the music was rehearsed in one afternoon and the session was designed to learn more than the music, but to understand more about the history and background of mariachi music.

We capped off the day with a visit from West Coast Tacos - thanks to our new friends there who joined us for the performance.

MYO families - send me your summer story!

Ruth

Orchestra A Rehearsal Cancelled

MYO Orchestra A,

Please note that there will be NO Orchestra A rehearsal on Thursday, February 3 due to the winter weather. Everyone stay safe and warm- we'll see you next week!