PORTLAND YOUTH PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS FAMILY-FRIENDLY CUSHION CONCERT (FOR KIDS AGE 2-8), AHEAD OF SEASON 98 AUDITIONS
Posted on April 29, 2021
PYP presents family-friendly Cushion Concert (for kids age 2-8), ahead of season 98 auditions
PORTLAND, OR – Portland Youth Philharmonic, the nation’s first and oldest youth orchestra, invites audiences and their littles ones to its annual family-friendly Cushion Concert on Saturday, May 22, 2021, at 10:00 AM PT. The virtual event will feature PYP’s Young String Ensemble (YSE) and conductor Inés Voglar Belgique (the Oregon Symphony’s Assistant Principal Second Violin) in a fun 45-minute introduction to classical music. PYP hopes the presentation will encourage local young musicians of all ages to further explore classical music and maybe audition for one of its ensembles this summer.
This year’s Cushion Concert will feature exciting new music written for YSE by living women composers, American musicians Laura Brackney and Sakari Dixon Vanderveer, and Cuban composer Keyla Orozco. A quartet of YSE musicians will also present pieces by Russian composer Polina Nazaykinskaya. The virtual event will also include a few recognizable works from popular films and string instruments will be demonstrated by PYP’s youngest ensemble musicians.
Cushion Concert e-tickets are offered on a “pay-what-you-can” fee structure at www.portlandyouthphil.org/family. A free ticket is also an option. Interested viewers must fill out a ticket form on the PYP website to receive the link to watch from home. All payments made for PYP’s virtual concerts are considered tax-deductible donations.
In June and August 2021, Portland Youth Philharmonic will hold auditions for its 98th concert season. The orchestra hopes to resume regular, weekly in-person rehearsals and concerts in the fall, as government and public health mandates allow. Auditions will be reviewed electronically via video submissions. The deadline to submit an audition video is midnight on Friday, August 13, 2021. Financial aid is available to any musician who passes an audition.
Interested musicians can visit www.portlandyouthphil.org/audition to submit an online application. Each application requires a $30 non-refundable fee. Once an application has been submitted, musicians may start working on their audition videos.
Portland Youth Philharmonic strongly believes that great music education should be accessible to every child. PYP provides need-based tuition assistance, as well as financial support for private lessons, instrumental rental, concert attire, travel, and other expenses as needed. In 2019-2020, 24% of enrolled musicians received nearly $43,000 in scholarships, financial aid, sibling discounts, and private lesson scholarships. When a musician passes their audition, they will receive an enrollment packet that includes a financial aid application. Learn more about PYP’s tuition assistance at www.portlandyouthphil.org/financialaid.
The orchestra will close out its 97th concert season on Saturday, June 5, 2021, with the third volume of its virtual New Music Festival. PYPFEST Vol. 3: Return of the Orchestra will see all of PYP’s ensembles performing 8 all-new works composed primarily by women and musicians of color, as part of the recently launched Youth Orchestra Commissioning Initiative (YOCI). Over the course of this season, PYP commissioned more than 25 artists to create new music through YOCI. PYPFEST Vol. 3 will feature new works from Nicole Buetti, Alfonso Fuentes Colón, Kamran N. Ince, Nancy Ives, Texu Kim, Isabella Morrill, Reinaldo Moya, and PYP alumnus Kevin Walczyk for PYPFEST Vol. 3. “E-tickets” are available on a “pay-what-you-can” fee structure.
To learn more about PYP’s upcoming virtual events, visit www.portlandyouthphil.org/concerts.