The New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving’s second annual “Grace Note” awards—to be presented Sunday, February 13--will honor seven north Texas groups that are helping prepare the next generation of young musicians by providing them opportunities to perform.
The orchestra will present its Grace Note Awards during intermission at its “Sundays at the Symphony” concert at 3:30 p.m. in the Irving Arts Center, 3333 North MacArthur Blvd.
“At a time when budgets are tighter for school districts and the arts, we want to recognize the groups in north Texas who are providing performing opportunities for student musicians,” the orchestra’s president, Gretchen Cabrera, explains. “Young musicians need not just to study, but to perform.”
The 2011 honorees include Fort Worth’s Van Cliburn Foundation, the Dallas Symphony’s “Young Strings” program, the New Conservatory of Dallas, and four regional youth orchestras: the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Youth Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth, North Texas Youth Orchestra and Lone Star Youth Orchestra. The oldest of the youth orchestras began in 1965, the newest in 1999.
Members of the Grace Note Award-winning groups will be honored at a reception during the February 13 concert, called “Around the World in 80 Minutes.” The program includes Béla Bartók’s “Romanian Folk Dances,” Ralph Vaughan-Williams’ “English Folk Song Suite,” Carl Maria von Weber’s “Andante and Rondo Ungarese” (soloist: Dr. Scott Pool, bassoon), and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 2, the ‘Little Russian’.”
NPOI conductor Dr. Sergio Espinosa serves on the faculty of the University of Texas at Arlington and is senior music examiner for the International Baccalaureate Organization in Wales, UK. Born in Mexico, he studied there, in Switzerland and in New York. He holds a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the University of Iowa. As a violinist he has performed in Spain, France and the United States.
Bassoon soloist Scott Pool, an assistant professor on the UTA music faculty, has taught and performed at the Orfeo International Music Festival (Italy), the Schlern International Music Festival (Italy), and from 2002-2009 was Associate Professor of Bassoon at Valdosta State University in Georgia.
Here are some details on the Grace Note Award winners:
--The Van Cliburn Foundation has helped launch careers for young pianists here and around the world since 1962 through its international competitions and career management services.
--The Dallas Symphony’s nationally noted “Young Strings” program receives an award for discovering and training young Hispanic and African-American string players, and scheduling their performances before DSO concerts since 1992.
--The New Conservatory of Dallas, organized in 1994, has taken its young orchestra members around the world for performances here, in New York City, Colorado and abroad.
--All four regional youth orchestras-- the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Youth Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth, North Texas Youth Orchestra and Lone Star Youth Orchestra—function year-round to introduce young musicians to symphonic music through rehearsals and performances in north Texas.
The New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving is a community orchestra, made up of trained musicians who choose to continue to play while they serve in other professions: teaching, accounting, film-making and others. Since 1988, the orchestra has served audiences from Irving and throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
General admission tickets for the concert range from $8 to $15. For tickets, call 972-252-ARTS (2787). For more information, visit the orchestra’s Web site at www.npoirving.com.
