Conference 2024: Creative Partnerships to Maximize Youth Learning and Development

Videos from the presentation

Speaker(s): Amy Chung, Executive Director, Houston Youth Symphony; Jackson Guillén, Coda Program Director, Houston Youth Symphony; Anni Hochhalter, Executive Director, WindSync; and Kara LaMoure, Bassoonist and Artistic Director, WindSync

Now in its eighth year of collaboration, Houston Youth Symphony (HYS) partners with the professional wind quintet, WindSync, in a yearly school residency and performance with the HYS Coda Program, Houston’s first after-school El Sistema-inspired program. This session discussed how this mutually beneficial partnership was formed and identify the core elements of the wind quintet residency that enhances the musical learning of young string players by performing culturally relevant repertoire. A commissioning element offers the opportunity to feature young diverse composers while presenting repertoire that addresses various needs of the musicians, including cultural relevance.

Learn to think flexibly about mixing instrumentation and performance levels in working with young string players. The session included hearing from various partners and youth Coda Program musicians, with a performance of a commissioned work by Nicky Sohn.

This session has been generously sponsored by MKI Artists. Additional support made possible by a grant from the Hood-Barrow Foundation. Photo Credit: Melissa Taylor