San Marcos High School Orchestra Musician Selected To Join 2019 National Youth Orchestra Of The United States Of America

Staff reports

A San Marcos CISD Student has been selected to join the 2019 National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.

Gabriel Uriah Ortiz is one of eighteen Texas students to be recognized by Carnegie Hall as being among the finest players in the country following a comprehensive and highly selective audition process.

Ortiz plays the trumpet and is a member of the Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra and the San Marcos High School Mariachi Ensemble. The 17-year-old is a prior NYO2 member, which is a program for younger musicians ages 14 to 17.

Carnegie Hall announced on March 6 the names of 119 outstanding young musicians, who had been selected from across the country for the seventh annual National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.

The members of the 2019 Orchestra, ages 16 to 19, hail from 33 US states.

Following an intensive three-week training residency at Purchase College, SUNY, world-renowned conductor Sir Antonio Pappano will lead NYO-USA at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts on Thursday, August 1 at 8:00 PM. The performance will be followed by the orchestra’s annual Carnegie Hall concert on Saturday, August 3 at 8:00 PM, to be heard by music lovers worldwide via the Carnegie Hall Live broadcast and digital series, created in partnership with WQXR.

The program includes Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie, and Berlioz’s Les nuits d’ete featuring renowned mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard. Tickets, priced at $25 for adults and $10 for youth and students, went on sale Wednesday, March 20.

The orchestra then departs to Europe for a tour of some of the continent’s music capitals, beginning with a performance in Berlin featuring mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, and continuing with concerts in Great Britain, Amsterdam, and Germany featuring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.

Select concerts feature Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in place of Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie, giving the young musicians the rare opportunity to perform two ambitious symphonies. Two apprentice composers will also compose new works for the orchestra, to be premiered during the tour.

“The musicians who make up NYO-USA’s 2019 roster are among the very best players in the nation,” said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall’s Executive and Artistic Director. “This promises to be an unforgettable summer of new discoveries for them. These superb young players will have the opportunity to serve as musical ambassadors for their country, connecting with audiences around the world as they present extraordinary performances under the baton of conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, collaborating with three wonderful soloists.”

NYO-USA musicians arrive in New York in mid-July for an intensive three-week training residency on the campus of Purchase College, SUNY, working with principal players from some of the finest professional orchestras. James Ross, music director of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, returns to lead the NYO- USA faculty for the seventh year.

Joseph Young, Artistic Director of Ensembles at the Peabody Institute, will serve as resident conductor. The faculty will oversee rehearsals during the orchestra’s residency in Purchase and will also lead master classes, chamber music readings, and other seminars on essential music skills, all leading up to the launch of NYO-USA’s annual tour.