On Tuesday, April 22, Baltimore County public school music students will have the opportunity of a lifetime: to play a full concert alongside the musicians of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on the stage of the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Now in its fifth year, the BSO‐Baltimore County "Side by Side" program is a unique opportunity for local high school students to have a professional performance experience with a world‐class symphony orchestra.
Joseph Young, the BSO‐Peabody Conducting Fellow and a student of Marin Alsop, leads the program, which features excerpts from works by Elgar, Copland, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. Towson High School sophomore Sarah Chase has been selected to perform the first movement from Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto.
Preparations for the concert are well underway, beginning with an audition process in February to select 35 student instrumentalists from 11 Baltimore County high schools: Dulaney, Pikesville, Perry Hall, Kenwood, Towson, Catonsville, Patapsco, Franklin, Hereford, Parkville and Loch Raven. Students have committed to practicing their parts for several hours each week and, beginning in April, will participate in section coaching with BSO musicians. Their work culminates in the concert on April 22 at the Meyerhoff, where they will perform side‐by‐side with BSO musicians and before an audience of their families and peers.
Commenting on the program, BSO‐Peabody Conducting Fellow Joseph Young said, "Experiences like the BSO's Side by Side program are formative: they help young musicians understand what it's like to be part of a professional ensemble and their hard work gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment. I'm looking forward to working with the Baltimore County students to develop their skills. I think we'll have some fun along the way too."
Joseph Young, BSO‐Peabody Conducting Fellow
Joseph Young is currently in his first season of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra‐Peabody Conducting Fellowship, a prestigious conductor‐training program developed and managed by the BSO and Peabody Conservatory with the aid of the League of American Orchestras. The program supports the musical and leadership development of exceptionally talented conductors in the early stages of their professional careers. It aims to improve the qualifications of American conductors to assume leadership roles as music directors of American orchestras. Since his arrival, he has covered concerts led by music director Marin Alsop and guest conductor John Adams. In January of 2008, he made his subscription debut with the Baltimore Symphony performing the opening work on the program.
Prior to his appointment with the BSO, Joseph taught and built an award‐winning music program in Central, South Carolina. Under his leadership, for the first time in six years, the school's band program earned the Outstanding Performance Award, the highest honor awarded by the South Carolina Band Directors' Association. The wind ensemble also received national accolades under Young's direction. Joseph Young received a bachelor of music degree with emphasis in music education from the University of South Carolina. He is currently pursuing graduate studies at the Peabody Conservatory and will earn an artist diploma upon graduation in 2009. His primary conducting teachers are Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar. -- www.baltimoresymphony.org
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