NJ Youth Symphony To Perform At Kennedy Center

The New Jersey Youth Symphony will perform at The Concert Hall at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
on Sunday, February 14 at 8:00 p.m.
The New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS) will perform in The Concert Hall at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Febraury 14, 2016 as one of three select orchestras chosen to participate in the Capital Orchestra Festival presented by Music Celebrations International. Tickets are free but must be reserved online at http://capitalorchestrafestival.org/.
Youth Symphony, one of NJYS’s two advanced, full orchestras in the NJYS family of ensembles, will perform Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, Op. 47 led by Artistic Director and Conductor Jeffrey Grogan. Youth Symphony is open to students in grades 9-12 and was awarded first place in the prestigious 2014 Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival. Youth Symphony has appeared in such internationally renowned concert halls as Carnegie Hall in New York City and Musikverein in Vienna.
93 students will travel to Washington DC to perform. The students hail from 13 counties in New Jersey. Artistic Director Jeffrey Grogan said that “you cannot underestimate the power of touring and performing in these fabulous concert halls. The bonding that happens between students has a direct impact on the musical product, and their excitement at playing in such storied venues provides an excitement that lasts far beyond the actual performance.”
Other orchestras participating in the 8:00 p.m. concert are the Southwest Florida Youth Symphony, David Cole, conductor, based in Fort Meyers, Florida and the Anne Arundel Community College Symphony Orchestra, Anna Binneweg, conductor from Maryland. Four other ensembles from Indiana, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming will be featured at a 2:00 p.m. performance. All ensembles went through a screening process managed by Music Celebrations International.
The New Jersey Youth Symphony, the orchestral and ensemble affiliate of Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts, features fourteen ensembles, available by audition for students in grades 3 – 12. NJYS was recently featured on NJTV’s The State of the Arts and all of its ensembles appeared at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center for its 35th Anniversary gala concert. NJYS includes string, winds and brass, and jazz ensembles as well as three full orchestras. Its tiered family of ensembles range from beginner to advanced, with many students remaining a part of the organization for up to 10 years.
Applauded for performances “high in energy, with close attention to ebb and flow,” American conductor Jeffrey Grogan is hailed as a musical leader who “knows what kind of sound he wants from an orchestra…rich and vibrant.” His humanistic leadership style, coupled with a strong command of skills as a musical communicator, has earned him an impressive reputation with audiences and music programs throughout the country. Known for “shrewd programming, skillful rehearsing, and an energized performance,” he was chosen in 2009 to participate in the Bruno Walter National Conductor Preview sponsored by the League of American Orchestras.
Mr. Grogan joined NJYS in 2011. Considering his work with young musicians to be a cornerstone of his career, Mr. Grogan also serves as Artistic Director of the Greater Newark Youth Orchestras and the InterSchool Orchestras of New York. Mr. Grogan is Artistic Director of two El Sistema-inspired music programs: the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts’ Paterson Music Project and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s CHAMPS. As Education and Community Engagement Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra since 2006, Mr. Grogan leads the NJSO in a variety of concerts each season.