On Saturday, May 11 at 5 pm, the Music in Schools Initiative at the Yale School of Music presents a concert featuring the three All-City Honors Ensembles, the All-City Honors Band, All-City Honors Chorus, and All-City Honors Orchestra. All three are auditioned ensembles comprised of students in the New Haven Public Schools. The performance takes place at Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Hall (470 College St., New Haven, corner of Wall St.).
The All-City Honors Ensembles are part of the Music in Schools Initiative, an ongoing, in-depth collaboration between the Yale School of Music and the New Haven Public Schools. The ensembles include 136 students in grades 5–12 who come from 25 different schools. The young musicians auditioned in January for the ensembles, which provide opportunities for the district’s best young musicians to hone their talents.
This concert showcases the groundbreaking partnership of YSM and the NHPS, of which the honors ensembles are only one part. “The evolution of the partnership between the New Haven Public Schools and the Yale School of Music has allowed us to do extraordinary things for students in New Haven,” said Michael Yaffe, Associate Dean of the Yale School of Music. “This concert will be a great example of the quality of work that a comprehensive partnership allows.”
This concert marks the debut of the All-City Honors Orchestra, which is directed by Netta Hadari ’99MM, ’00AD of Music Haven.
Dr. Thomas C. Duffy returns to lead the All-City Honors Band for its third season. He has been assisted by NHPS teachers Daniel Kinsman, Mindy Hartfiel, and Olivia Malin ’07MM. The NHPS band program is proud that for the first time, one of its students was accepted into the Connecticut All-State Band.
For its fourth season, the All-City Honors Chorus will be led by NHPS teachers Jonathan Berryman and Meaghan Sheehan. The chorus performed last Saturday, April 27, on the New Haven Green as part of the celebrations of New Haven’s 375th anniversary.
All three ensembles will perform individually. They will then join together in a piece written for the occasion by Duffy that is based on the Namibian song “Meguru.”
Ellen Maust, the Music Supervisor for the New Haven Public Schools, said: “I’m so proud of how our district has embraced the idea of collaborating with the Yale School of Music in creating this partnership. It has clearly changed children’s lives.” Ruben Rodriguez ’11MM, the Lead Teacher of the Music in Schools Initiative, added, “It is encouraging to see how music becomes such a powerful tool for our students to develop passion, commitment, and excellent in their lives and bring their talent to their communities.”
Admission to the concert is free. For more information, visit music.yale.edu or contact the Yale School of Music concert office at 203 432-4158.
About the Music in Schools Initiative
The Yale School of Music has long supported arts education programs in the New Haven Public Schools, in our role as one of the leading arts organizations in New Haven. This effort was confirmed and enhanced with the establishment of the Music in Schools Initiative in 2007, thanks to the generous 50th reunion class gift by the Yale College Class of 1957. In recognition of the value of music and arts education in the public schools, these visionary Yale alumni established an endowment to ensure the continuing development of music programs in New Haven.
Every K–8 student in the New Haven Public Schools studies general music, and over 2500 students throughout the district partipate in band programs. YSM provides graduate teaching artists to more than a dozen New Haven Public Schools, serving the dual purpose of supporting NHPS music teachers and training YSM students in school-based work. The School also hosts All-City Honors ensembles to provide further opportunities for the district’s most talented young musicians. More information on all of these programs can be found here.
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