Yannick Nézet-Séguin Is Special Guest Conductor for School District of Philadelphia and Curtis Institute of Music Fifth Annual All City Orchestra Retreat

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s New Music Director Leads All City Orchestra Reading at the Curtis Institute of Music

(Philadelphia, January 24, 2013)—The Philadelphia Orchestra’s new music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, will participate in an All City Orchestra Workshop and Retreat at the Curtis Institute of Music on Saturday, January 26, from 12 PM-4:15 PM. This annual event, now in its fifth year, brings together the nearly 100 high school student musicians that comprise the School District of Philadelphia’s All City Orchestra for a day of music-making alongside Curtis Institute of Music students. The workshop, which features master classes and sectionals—even a career discussion panel—all facilitated by current Curtis students—gives high schoolers an up-close look at what it takes to perform at the highest professional level, and offers an unprecedented opportunity to interact with musicians from one of the world’s leading music conservatories.

This year, All City Orchestra musicians will get the chance of a lifetime—the opportunity to perform under the baton of Nézet-Séguin as he leads an hour-long orchestra reading session. This is Nézet-Séguin’s very first interaction with students from the All City Orchestra, and comes on the heels of his recent work with the School District of Philadelphia’s All City Choir in the Orchestra’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute concert on January 21. In this reading session, students will play alongside current Curtis students, while learning from Nézet-Séguin, new music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the pre-eminent orchestras in existence today. The All City Orchestra boasts students from nearly 20 high schools within the School District of Philadelphia, and is directed by Don Liuzzi, principal timpani of The Philadelphia Orchestra and a Curtis faculty member. 

Philadelphia Orchestra President and CEO Allison Vulgamore comments, “We celebrate the coming together of these three longstanding partners, in the name of blanketing our community with a love of music, a fulfillment of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s mission. We are eager for Yannick to have this chance to use his immense talent to mentor and inspire Philadelphia students. And we are pleased that our own principal timpanist Don Liuzzi, who leads the All City Orchestra, helped to bring this about. This is just one way in which the Orchestra’s footprint in Philadelphia goes well beyond the conventional concert stage.”

“These are challenging times for support of the arts, so it is all the more important that we who are practicing musicians hold a commitment to working with young, aspiring musicians, encouraging their hard work and developing their talent,” said Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. “This Day of Music retreat is a wonderful opportunity to provide inspiration and confidence to these young artists and I look forward to my first opportunity to work with the students who are a part of Philadelphia’s All City Orchestra.”

“The School District of Philadelphia is truly honored to have Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conduct our All City Orchestra students at the Curtis Institute Retreat,” commented Dennis Creedon, School District of Philadelphia Assistant Superintendent. “Keeping with a long tradition, Yannick follows Leopold Stokowski who conducted an All City Orchestra rehearsal in the 1960s, and Christoph Eschenbach who conducted our students in concert in 2003.  Our partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra is extensive and ensures future generations of music lovers. The Philadelphia Orchestra is to be commended for its continued support of music education in the schools of our city.”

The Curtis Institute of Music educates and trains exceptionally gifted young musicians for careers as performing artists on the highest professional level. One of the world’s leading conservatories, Curtis provides its 165 students with full-tuition scholarships and personalized attention from a celebrated faculty. The school’s distinctive “learn by doing” approach has produced an impressive number of notable artists since its founding in 1924. Curtis alumni hold principal chairs in every major American orchestra, and each season they are featured as guest soloists with the world’s leading orchestras, opera houses, and chamber music series.

Curtis’s innovative programs encourage students to perform often and hone 21st-century musical skills, and the school’s facilities offer superb spaces for music-making as well as state-of-the-art technologies to enhance learning. Students perform internationally with Curtis on Tour in addition to more than 150 performances in and around Philadelphia each year. When they graduate, they become musical leaders, making a profound impact on music around the globe.

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Renowned for its distinctive sound, beloved for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences, and admired for an unrivaled legacy of “firsts” in music-making, The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world.

The Philadelphia Orchestra has cultivated an extraordinary history of artistic leaders in its 112 seasons, including music directors Fritz Scheel, Carl Pohlig, Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Christoph Eschenbach, and Charles Dutoit, who served as chief conductor from 2008 to 2012. With the 2012-13 season, Yannick Nézet-Séguin becomes the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Named music director designate in 2010, Nézet-Séguin brings a vision that extends beyond symphonic music into the vivid world of opera and choral music.

Philadelphia is home and the Orchestra nurtures an important relationship not only with patrons who support the main season at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts but also those who enjoy the Orchestra’s other area performances at the Mann Center, Penn’s Landing, and other venues. The Philadelphia Orchestra Association also continues to own the Academy of Music—a National Historic Landmark—as it has since 1957. 

Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, the Orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the United States. Having been the first American orchestra to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, today The Philadelphia Orchestra boasts a new partnership with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The Orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center while also enjoying a three-week residency in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and a strong partnership with the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.

The ensemble maintains an important Philadelphia tradition of presenting educational programs for students of all ages. Today the Orchestra executes myriad of education and community partnership programs serving over 45,000 annually, including its Neighborhood Concert Series, Sound All Around and Family Concerts, and eZseatU.

 For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.