Youth symphony opens popular adult music appreciation webinars to general public
The Norwalk Youth Symphony (NYS), which serves the Fairfield and Westchester regions, is opening its Adult Music Appreciation program to the general public. These weekly webinars, led by NYS conductors, discuss significant composers and focus on some of the most important works in the classical music canon, all underscored with excerpts from the music.
The course schedules include discussions of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony and Beethoven’s Ninth, along with broader themes such as Leonard Bernstein’s role in shaping American music, and how music functions as an “unseen hero” in great films.
Led by NYS Music Director and Principal Orchestra Conductor Jonathan Yates and Concert Orchestra Conductor Russell Ger, the webinars take place on Wednesday and Thursday nights from 8 – 9 p.m. The class on February 18 will be a free trial session, with Yates leading the night’s discussion on Dmitri Shostakovich’s triumphant Fifth Symphony. Register for the complimentary class
The webinars feature video excerpts of the music being discussed, as Yates and Ger bring their in-depth knowledge about the composers, their music’s ongoing ability to move listeners, the impact their predecessors had on them and how events in their lives affected their work.
“We welcome questions that come up during the course of the night’s discussion and enjoy hearing how the participants react personally to the music, what moved them and how they connected to the symphony,” Yates said. “With people homebound, these webinars are an excellent way to join, virtually, with others, to learn and gain a deeper sense of what makes classical music great.”
In the previous season, Yates led two sessions exploring Beethoven’s masterwork, his Ninth Symphony, with its innovative use of a chorus in the fourth movement’s Ode to Joy section. In the upcoming sessions, Yates will also lead webinars on Debussy’s La Mer and Schubert’s Ninth Symphony.
In Ger’s upcoming sessions, he’ll lead a webinar describing how Bernstein elevated and broadened American appreciation for classical music, in a session titled: “The Man Who Shaped Music in America.” Widely known as the New York Philharmonic’s conductor, Bernstein was a celebrated composer in his own right, and also a charismatic teacher on his televised Young People’s Concerts and at Tanglewood.
Other Ger webinars will focus on Mozart piano concertos, Mahler’s Sixth Symphony and Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony.
Yates, with degrees in Music from Harvard and the State University of New York, received his graduate diploma in Conducting at The Julliard School. Also music director of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Yates has collaborated as a pianist and conductor with Midori, David Finckel, and Gilbert Kalish.
Ger, from Australia, is an alumnus of Symphony Australia, the leading conductor-training program in that country. He has toured with renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman and is music director of the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra.
The full program slate features 20 webinars, but participants have the option to register for eight, 12 or all 20 of the sessions, and can choose the sessions they want based on the week’s topic. Tuition for the eight sessions is $90; 12 sessions, $125; and 20 sessions, $175.