Young Sounds: Staying Active
Although Pandemic problems are still here in varying degrees this past
season, Young Sounds was active, much of it virtual but some periods
where the Program was able to provide the neighborhood with outdoor
concerts this past Spring which were live and highly successful. In
addition, Young Sounds is finishing up a recording, which is the first in
three years. The kids were protected using in place protocols including
social distancing and reducing group size to sections for recording their
parts.
A big thank you to Clarke Rigsby and Jerry Donato for making this happen
for the students, Also a big thank you to Joe Corral for his guest
appearance on the recording. Can’t wait to hear the final product!
We have received, so far this season since January three grants from local
city and state funders and we may have one or two more funded
proposals before January. This will help a lot given the reality of the Bingo
revenue loss and not wanting to tap our reserve. One of the grants will
provide total funding for Young Sounds to redesign and upgrade its web
platform thereby enhancing communications throughout the valley and
make it very user friendly. Thank you Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture
and Arizona Commission on the Arts. We’ve also received funding to
support the Spring Visiting Artist Concert. Hopefully, it will be a live
concert.
We anticipate that the program will be more live than virtual this season
although we will continue to monitor school programs for their protocols
on attendance, social distancing, vaccinations, and general approach to
interaction between students and teachers.
Auditions went well this spring and early summer. Many new faces will be
joining the Program as well as many faces we saw last season returning.
Still have a few slots open for the 5 0’ clock band and one to two
trombone slots to fill in the 7 0’clock band. Please let Andrew Gross know
if you are aware of a youth, 13-19 years of age that might be interested.
We are excited to kick off the 2021-2022 season starting with orientation
on August 30th with rehearsals set to begin Monday September 6th. We
are always open to suggestions or comments to improve the program. Let
us know what you see, hear, and think regarding Young Sounds.
Categories: News, Young Sounds