The orchestra, expanded to 103 musicians, concluded its 2008-09 season with one of the most challenging as well as beautiful works in the literature, Gustav Mahler’s magisterial Symphony No. 4.  Ryan McAdams, leading his charges in the Mahler and in Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, also introduced the effervescent young soprano Jennifer Zetlan in her Carnegie Hall début.  Ms. Zetlan performed Recurrent Dream, by Trevor Gureckis, in the concluding work of the 25th season of commissioned works in the ‘First Music’ series. Order Subscriptions for the 2009-10 Season!

Putting an exclamation point on its 2008-09 season, the 17-member big band the arrangements made for the bands of Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman in its culminating performance of the season in the Allen Room of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Tickets for the 500-seat hall which has as its backdrop the room’s glass wall overlooking Columbus Circle. Alto saxophonist Dick Oatts the band’s featured performer on the program which is directed by Chris Winans in his third season. (Subscriptions for the 2009-10 Seaon!)

The organization is taking the current budget under a more focused review.  Barry Goldberg, NYYS Executive Director, notes that tighter controls over spending for the rest of this season are necessary.  “We have had to pull back on spending to promote our performances so that essential services to the students aren’t compromised,” he observed.  “Nevertheless, this means smaller attendance at our events,” he said, “unless the musicians themselves can put the word out to their friends and family to attend in larger numbers.”  The Board of Trustees is currently reviewing the 2009-10 budget for next season to see where costs can be contained without curtailing music services unnecessarily.

Thirty-three ensembles of the Program entertained delighted audiences with l performances of chamber l music repertoire to close its 27th season. Two very satisfying recitals took place at Symphony Space in mid-April followed by a standing room-only crowd In Weill on April 29, all under the direction of Lisa Tipton. Daniel Phillips served again as the program’s interactive mentor; the Director’s Award for Commitment and Achievement went to the Nagin-Hopkins-Asimov trio.

 More New Works Than Anywhere on Display
at “Composition Date: 2009."

Arguably the greatest concentration of new compositions in New York City was found on May 6 in Symphony Space as Making Score concluded its 2008-09 season. 18 students of the groundbreaking composition program produced new works which were performed by outstanding musicians of the orchestra, chamber music, jazz, and apprentice conducting programs. The well-attended concert, coordinated by director Anna Clyne, also allowed for brief interviews prior to each new work with the composers, a panoply of personalities and ideas of where music is going.

Next Generation Fund Hits New High as Campaign Continues Unabated.

The New York Youth Symphony’s campaign to raise its endowment and reserve funds to $4 million received a boost recently in a bequest of almost $1.3 million from the estate of the organization’s late Trustee, Joseph F. McCrindle.  In-hand cash or pledges set a record $3.4 million.  The objective of the fund-raising is to stabilize the organization’s finances by generating a revenue stream to support the student scholarship fund.