PORTLAND YOUTH PHILHARMONIC’S MUSICIANS VOTED ON THE TITLES FOR THE ORCHESTRA’S UPCOMING PYP NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL VIRTUAL CONCERTS
Posted on February 10, 2021
PORTLAND, OR – Earlier this month, Portland Youth Philharmonic’s 281 young musicians suggested subtitles for the organization’s remaining Season 97 virtual performances and then voted on their favorites. Just a few weeks after the 97th anniversary of the orchestra’s first-ever performance in 1925, PYP will proudly present PYPFEST Vol. 2: The Orchestra Strikes Back on Saturday, April 10, 2021, at 7:00 PM PST, and PYPFEST Vol. 3: Return of the Orchestra on Saturday, June 5, 2021, at 7:00 PM PST.
These concerts are a continuation of the orchestra’s November 2020 PYP New Music Festival, which premiered 14 brand new works commissioned especially for its historic 97th concert season. The nation’s first and oldest youth orchestra, Portland Youth Philharmonic is currently sharing individual performances from the festival’s November volume on its YouTube channel.
“I will always remember how it felt to play [Cuban composer] Keyla Orozco’s Youth Danzón-Cha,” said 11-year-old Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering student Andy Shin, a cellist in PYP’s Young String Ensemble. “The piece was extremely fun to play and very groovy. I really liked the dynamics and the syncopations. I enjoyed playing [remotely] with a group, and this music will always be in my heart as the first piece I played in a PYP ensemble.”
The upcoming PYPFEST performances will once again feature all-new works composed primarily by women and musicians of color, as part of the recently launched Youth Orchestra Commissioning Initiative. The collaborative project establishes a consortium of youth orchestras that currently includes PYP, Metropolitan Youth Symphony (MYS of Portland, OR) and New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS of New Providence, NJ). A primary goal of this initiative is to address the systemic exclusion of composers of color and women from the standard classical, and especially youth orchestra, repertoire, by showcasing new music composed primarily by professionals in those groups. YOCI is open to interested youth orchestras and composers, who can learn more at www.youthorchestras.org.
April’s PYPFEST Vol. 2: The Orchestra Strikes Back will include 10 brand new compositions and performances by all of PYP’s ensembles. Commissioned composers include Tatev Amiryan, Eduardo Alonso-Crespo, Jonathan Bingham, Sakari Dixon Vanderveer, Erberk Eryılmaz, Gabriel A. Meneses, Gordon Rencher, Bruce Stark, James Stephenson, and Rain Worthington.
June’s PYPFEST Vol. 3: Return of the Orchestra will premiere 8 new compositions. Commissioned composers for this round include Nicole Buetti, Alfonso Fuentes Colón, Kamran N. Ince, Nancy Ives, Texu Kim, and Kevin Walczyk.
Due to the ongoing global pandemic, “e-tickets” to PYPFEST are offered on a “pay what you can” fee structure. To receive an email on the day of the concert with the link to watch from home, viewers must visit Portland Youth Philharmonic’s website at www.portlandyouthphil.org/concerts to register. Even though a free ticket is available, all viewers must fill out the ticket form for each concert. Everyone who registers will receive the concert link and a digital PDF of the concert program by email. Unlike PYP’s fall 2020 performances, the upcoming concerts will not be livestreamed publicly. Interested viewers are requested to sign-up for an e-ticket (either for free or by paying what you would like) to each virtual concert to participate.
To learn more about PYP’s New Music Festival and to get an e-ticket to watch from home, visit www.portlandyouthphil.org/concerts.