NYSMF at the MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Howdy ho, music fans! You are invited to NYSMF Day at the magnificent Manhattan School of Music.

Made possible by the support of our wonderful faculty at MSM, This is a perfect opportunity for you to grab yourself a new NYSMF 2007 Brochure and to find out first-hand how preparations for the exciting 2007 summer season are coming.

WHAT NYSMF Day @ MSM
WHEN SATURDAY, JAN 27, 2007
WHERE Manhattan School of Music
WHEN 9 am - 6 pm

Students: come say hello to your old friends, and bring along any friends, enemies, or family who are really up for a powerfully challenging summer of music.

Parents: this is your chance to speak one-on-one with NYSMF administration, conductors, and instructors, who rank among the finest performers and educators in the entire world. If you have any questions about the program, this is the perfect time to get them answered!

NYSMF's faculty at MSM include:

• Dr Paul Cohen (Classical Saxophone Institute)
• Nathan Warner (Trumpet)
• Chris Rosenberg (Jazz Conductor)
• Ella Toovy (Cello)
• Soo Kyung Park (Flute)
• Christopher Nappi (Percussion)
• Brenda Earle (Jazz Choir, Jazz Piano, Voice)

Stop by, have a chat, and don't forget that returning students are entitled to $100 off their NYSMF tuition! This offer ends on Feb 28, 2007, so get those applications in ASAP.

See you at MSM in NYC, TTFN, LMNOPQRSTUV!

--Keisuke Hoashi
NYSMF Director of Communications

A Requiem for Michael Brecker

I just read some very sad news. Jazz saxophonist legend Michael Brecker has just died after a long struggle with leukemia.
I know many of our jazz faculty at NYSMF have had the honor or performing with Mr. Brecker through the years. These include saxophonist Dick Oatts, who gave a master class and an incredibly memorable concert at NYSMF this summer; bassist John Patitucci and pianist/composer Michael Holober also honored us with a Master Class and Concert in August 2006; and drummer John Riley was the very first Visiting Artist of NYSMF's history last June.

Michael Brecker was the first jazz saxophonist I ever heard of. My first year of music camp was at the New York State Music Camp in 1982, where I was overwhelmed by an entire universe of music that I never even suspected could exist. One of my best friends there, Andrew Wolin of Norwich, NY, was a tenor sax player that listened to Brecker all the time. He even sent a tape to me with an incredible recording of "Hesitation", with Brecker and Wynton Marsalis, and I was hooked on the first listen.

Although I never became a total Brecker fanatic, I loved his sound and style for the next 25 years. Mr. Brecker was the model of excellence for jazz sax players for his entire career, and the world is diminished with his loss.

Keisuke Hoashi
NYSMF Director of Communications

NYSMF Performance News Flash!

Another notice of NYSMF's resident Jazz Choir director (as well as piano teacher, voice teacher, jazz combo coach, and all around supreme educator) Brenda Earle and her latest gig news. Oh, and NYSMF's fantastic guitar god, Jesse Lewis, is also sharing the bill with Brenda!

Hope you can make it -- and if you do, tell her Keisuke sent you. I unfortunately can't make it, i'm freezing my tomatoes off out here in sunny, frigid Los Angeles. Have a blast! -keisuke

Brenda Earle Trio at Perch
January 16th, 2007 8:30-11pm

Hey every one. Just wanted to let you know I'm playing at Perch in Brooklyn tomorrow night with Jesse Lewis on guitar and Ike Sturm on bass. Very low key little hang - no cover. Great food and drink and even better music. I'll be singing some new material, including a new version of a Keane song. Perch 365 5th Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets Brooklyn, NY 718-788-2839 www.theperchcafe.com

Brenda Earle is a singer/pianist originally from Canada and currently based in New York City. Check out...
www.brendaearle.com
www.myspace.com/brendaearle

New NYSMF Student News!

More great news from NYSMF students, further enhancing our highbrow status as THE place for wildly talented young musicians:

• Christina Dioguardi was chosen as priciple bassoonist of the Area-All State Orchestra and the Greater Westchester Youth Symphony. Currently she is attending Juilliard Pre-College and bassooning a lot.

• Tim Woos
  "I was a composition student at the 3rd session in 2006. I had a piece called Four Scenes for Orchestra premiered by the Vermont Youth Orchestra for 2 concerts on December 31st at the Flynn Theater."

What wonderful and magnificent success stories do YOU have to share with the NYSMF community? Please email us and let us know!

NYSMF Special Programs: the Yamaha Silent Electric Strings

NYSMF/Yamaha Silent Electric Strings

Program made possible by the Yamaha Corporation of America; Ken Dattmore, Roger Eaton, Chris Manners, Naoyuki Nakabayashi

In 2006, the Yamaha Corporation of America generously granted NYSMF the full, unrestricted use of their full line of electric string instruments - known as the "Silent Electric", or SV, Strings. Two violins; a viola; a cello; and a bass (the only summer camp to receive one).

All NYSMF students were given the opportunity to use the SV Strings, whether they were just beginners trying out something new, or experienced string players looking for a new challenge.

The results were phenomenal, leading to Yamaha's ongoing grant to NYSMF. Several of Yamaha's top executives actually travelled all the way to Oneonta (one all the way from Hamamatsu, Japan!) to watch the NYSMF SV String Ensemble perform live.

This summer, students will once again be given the chance to play the most technologically advanced stringed instruments ever built. Here are some of the ways they may make use of Yamaha's generosity:

Silent String Composition
NYSMF Violin Teaching Assistant, Mr. Sean Neukom, took the opportunity to compose TWO original pieces for this set of five unusual instruments. Both were premiered at NYSMF, prompting interest from Yamaha in publishing and promoting these dedicated compositions. [VIDEO]

Silent String Ensemble
Mr. Neukom's first piece was performed by a group of extremely talented counselors; the second by an equally talented group of NYSMF students (average age: 15!). Not one of these musicians had ever played an SV string before, expanding their range and repertoire in ways they had never even considered.

Silent Jazz
Without question, the SV bass received the most attention, appearing in several NYSMF Jazz Ensembles and Jazz Combos. However, the violin and viola also both made their jazz premieres in the hands of students as young as 14 years of age!

Silent Strings in the Practice Rooms
Many students simply signed out the strings for an hour or two, and brought them into a practice room or an ensemble rehearsal just to try them out.

Silent Strings as Plot Devices
Our Original Musical Theatre Workshop used all five of the strings as key props in an original musical, written and performed by the members of the workshop. The title? "The Strings of Power", a foray into the fun and the ridiculous.

In addition, the Silent Violin appeared in one or two original short films produced by our Filmmaking Class, proving that the days of Stradivari and Guarneri wooden instruments in starring roles are coming to an end!

How Will YOU Use Them?
What would YOU, as a NYSMF student, do with the Yamaha SV Silent Electric Strings? Whatever you want to do. The SV strings are at NYSMF for YOU to learn about the new possibilities of instrumental music, to explore their features and limits. Or just for the plain "coolness" factor.

Whatever you decide, you can be sure that the NYSMF faculty will be with you to assist, and to bring your own vision of the SV Strings to life.

We look forward to working with the Yamaha Corporation for many, many summers to come.

Click here to download an application to NYSMF 2007.