Francisco J. Núñez and Young People’s Chorus of New York City 2019 Summer Season is Highlighted by the Launch of YPC National and the Debut of Concinamus
Francisco J. Núñez and Young People’s Chorus of New York City 2019 Summer Season is Highlighted by the Launch of YPC National and the Debut of Concinamus
This summer, following two pre-tour summer concerts in New York City, YPC Artistic Director/Founder Francisco J. Núñez and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City will create a momentous, new YPC milestone with the launch of YPC National in the Dominican Republic and at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. (Please see complete YPC summer concert schedule below.)
On Tuesday, July 16, YPC Artistic Director Francisco Núñez, conductors, and excited YPC choristers will set out for the Dominican Republic, where they will lead a YPC National Studio workshop for public and private school music teachers and culminate their visit on July 18 with the first YPC National concert at the Pabellon de la Fama del Deporte Dominicano in Santo Domingo. Joining the YPC singers on stage will be young children from Santo Domingo, who are eagerly anticipating this incredible opportunity to meet and especially to sing in concert with the famed YPC choristers from New York City.
From the Caribbean, the YPC troupe will travel to Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, where they will be joined by young singers, conductors, and teachers from New Jersey, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Georgia, and the Dominican Republic for YPC National Lab sessions for choristers and YPC National Studio sessions for teachers and conductors.
This week-long Lee University residency of workshops and rehearsals will prepare the participants for the debut performances on July 25 and 26 of Concinamus, the official YPC National choral ensemble.
The concert programs will be highlighted by the world premiere performances of the first two works in the new YPC National Works catalogue, which were commissioned from composers and longtime YPC colleagues Bruce Adolphe and Jim Papoulis, both of whom will be in attendance.
YPC National supports and inspires youth choruses and choral conductors across the country with a program of artistic excellence, diversity, and education modeled on the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, through a suite of four YPC National programs:
- YPC National Lab – An intensive program of rehearsals, coachings, master classes, concerts, and workshops.
- YPC National Studio – A professional development program
- YPC National Works – A repertoire and commissioning program
- YPC National Gives – A granting program to help choruses in need of grassroots funding.
YPC National
For over 30 years, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC), founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Francisco J. Núñez, a MacArthur Fellow and Musical America’s 2018 Educator of the Year, has become a source of inspiration for many other choruses across the US and around the world, and has received numerous requests for guidance, training, and assistance to develop choruses similar to YPC. YPC National is the response to those requests. It uses the YPC model to bring together children of various backgrounds to sing at the highest artistic level. In turn, they gain understanding, appreciation and mutual respect for cultures and identities that enrich the communities they live in. Through this model, children learn to recognize the value of everyone’s voice.
Complete 2019 YPC Summer Concert Schedule:
Thursday, July 11at 7:30 p.m. – “Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything”
The Jewish Museum,
1109 Fifth Ave. at 92ndStreet
Bang on a Can and The Jewish Museum present Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC) and Francisco J. Núñez in a concert of songs and poems by Leonard Cohen and others to coincide with the Jewish Museum exhibition, “Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything.” Among the Leonard Cohen classics to be recited and sung are Who by Fire, Bird on a Wire, andHallelujah. YPC will also perform works by Bang on a Can co-founders Julia Wolfe and YPC composer-in-residence Michael Gordon, and an original, vibrant YPC medley of Gershwin classics, “I Got Gershwin.”
Tickets, at $20 and $16 for students and seniors, are available at the museum during standard hours, by phone at 866-205-1322, or at https://old.ypc.org/events/
Saturday, July 13 at 7-8 p.m. – FREE YPC Concert
Richard Rodgers Amphitheater at Marcus Garvey Park
18 Marcus Garvey Park West
Young People’s Chorus of New York City and Francisco J. Núñez return to the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater at Marcus Garvey Park for a pre-curtain concert to The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s Uptown Shakespeare in the Park theatrical presentation of “The Bacchae.” This YPC performance is a one-hour example of the acclaimed programs of virtuoso music and dance that have thrilled and entertained a global array of festival audiences on four continents for over two decades.
Admission: Free
7:00 p.m. – Young People’s Chorus of New York City
8:15 p.m. – The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s presentation of “The Bacchae.”
Thursday, July 18
Pabellon de la Fama del Deporte Dominicano,
Calle Centro Olímpico, Santo Domingo
809-540-3845
Special performance by Young People’s Chorus of New York City and choristers from Santo Domingo, conducted by Francisco J. Núñez
Thursday, July 25, 7 p.m.– FREE Concinamus Concert
Lee University’s Pangle Hall
340 Church St., Cleveland, TN.
Performance highlighted by the debut of Concinamus, the YPC National ensemble, conducted by Francisco J. Núñez, in a program highlighted by the world premiere of YPC National’s first commissioned works from composers Bruce Adolphe and Jim Papoulis.
This concert is free and open to the public
Friday, July 26, 7:30 p.m.– FREE Concinamus Concert
St. Mark’s United Methodist Church
1267 N. Rutherford Blvd
Murfreesboro, TN.
Concinamus is the special invited guest of the Tennessee ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) conference.
This is a repeat performance of the July 25 concert.
This concert is free and open to the public
# # #
Young People’s Chorus of New York City is a world-renowned youth chorus founded in 1988 on a mission of diversity, artistic excellence, and education by Artistic Director Francisco J. Núñez, a MacArthur Fellow and Musical America’s 2018 Educator of the Year. Under the leadership of Mr. Núñez, the program harnesses the power of music to fulfill the potential of children, heightening an awareness of the ability of children to rise to unforeseen levels of artistry. Almost 2,000 children from ages 8 to 18 participate annually in YPC through its after-school, in-school, and community programs. YPC is a recipient of the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, America’s highest honor for youth programs. For more information, visit ypc.org.
# # #
Press contact:
Shuman Associates | shumanpr@shumanassociates.net | (212) 315-1300
Photo credit: Stephanie Berger