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| Rehearsing for the big day |
Have you ever dreamed of playing Carnegie Hall?
Well, how about playing Carnegie Hall at 8 years old? Or 11? Or 12?
My co-workers, Walter and Jonathan, have children that recently did just that.
I KNOW! Isn't that cool?
The Los Angeles Children's Orchestra and the Los Angeles Children's Chamber Orchestra had an exciting trip back East at the beginning of April. The two orchestras participated in the New York International Music Festival which was held at Carnegie Hall on April 9th and 10th.
Walter's son Timothy (age 12) is a cello player and his daughter Tabitha (age 11) is a violin player. They are in both orchestras which performed. Jonathan's 8 year-old son Kenneth is a cello player with the Children's Orchestra.
They are all accomplished musicians, and real stars in my book!
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| The Chamber Group (Timothy is on the right holding his cello) |
Walter tells me that to get the kids psyched for their performance, the director Susan Pascale, had the children performing on their string instruments while walking on the streets of New York!
I once played the bass violin in a school orchestra. I can not imagine playing cello or bass while marching down 6th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan! (In fact, doesn't Woody Allen make a joke in one of his movies about playing cello in a marching band?)
But, DANG. They did it!
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| The kids from Los Angeles forming a flashmob down 6th Avenue |
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| Susan Pascale |
I mean 'crazy' in the nicest possible way. Who would have thought small children capable of accomplishing all that they have accomplished?
The Los Angeles Children's Orchestra is considered one of the finest children's orchestras in the world. Children throughout Southern California come to participate in this orchestra. This group has been featured on local and national television and has appeared in numerous publications. In 2009 the orchestra won the World Record for the youngest orchestra ever to perform at Carnegie Hall.
Their 2013 return to Carnegie was a tremendous success. That's a high level of musicianship for such a young group of performers.
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| The Orchestra |
The Director, when interviewed by a news publication, said she felt the success of the orchestra can be attributed to the program's motivating teaching style, as well as emphasis on good form and quality instruction from an early age. (Many of the orchestra members started with the Strings Program, in the KinderPiano® and KinderViolin® programs using the Pascale Method®.)
Orchestra participants go up to 12 years of age, or 6th grade. They graduate from the program to go on to win the best seats in the most prestigious youth orchestras and music programs.
This is sure a group of talented, hard-working midget musicians!
Do you feel like an underachiever yet?
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| The Chamber Orchestra plays Carnegie |
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