Fall 2011

YOLA at EXPO performs on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and with Stevie Wonder at the Hollywood Bowl

On Sunday, July 24, the YOLA EXPO Center Youth Orchestra performed alongside Stevie Wonder on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl during Global Soul, a KCRW World Festival series concert. Hosted by Emmy-nominated musical director Rickey Minor, the concert featured a stellar line-up of friends in a celebration of soul music from around the world. The orchestra joined all the evening's performers in a 40th-anniversary tribute to Marvin Gaye's classic album What's Going On, playing a joyous, ensemble version of the title track. This was the first time YOLA musicians performed on a subscription concert presented by the LA Phil and their second performance at the nearly 18,000-seat venue (the first was during Gustavo Dudamel’s inaugural ¡Bienvenido Gustavo! concert). On top of that, a special group of YOLA at EXPO’s section leaders joined fellow performers Sharon Jones, Grace Potter, and Charles Bradley a week prior on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for a sneak preview of the concert. Click here to see the students in their first TV appearance – no autographs, please!

Concerts in the park highlight YOLA at HOLA's summer

After almost ten months of hard work, the young musicians of YOLA at HOLA performed for some of their biggest audiences to date in their neighborhood's local parks. On August 4, members of the fourth-grade Wind Ensemble played for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at a Summer Night Lights event in Lafayette Park. Just days later, the full orchestra gave its final summer performance at Levitt Pavilion MacArthur Park. The concert was part of the venue’s free summer concert series and brought together nearly 2,000 people from the local community, who enjoyed works from Beethoven to Brahms performed by the program’s orchestra and ensembles. Get ready for another year of exciting performances – YOLA at HOLA is about to admit 80 new students this fall!

YOLA at EXPO introduces advanced Chamber Orchestra

This summer, the YOLA at EXPO program formed its third and newest ensemble, the YOLA EXPO Chamber Orchestra. Made up of 45 students, this new group not only represents the program’s most technically advanced musicians, but those who demonstrate exemplary peer leadership skills. For their first challenge as the program’s leaders, the students participated in an intensive week-long session at The Colburn School, which culminated in a special performance for their families. The group also performed for their peers during YOLA at EXPO’s annual summer concert (attended by California Assemblyman Mike Davis!). To hear highlights from the Chamber Orchestra's debut concert, click here.

Save the Date: 2012 YOLA Symposium

Come experience YOLA and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela during the LA Phil’s second YOLA Symposium January 30 – February 1, 2012. This dynamic convening of núcleo leaders and teachers from around the world will take place during the LA Phil’s Mahler Project, when Gustavo Dudamel will lead the LA Phil and the SBSOV in performances of Mahler’s complete symphonic cycle. More information and registration will be available by November 1, 2011. Missed our last Symposium? Click here to see materials, content notes, and media from that event.

YOLA in the Press

Variety – Global Soul With Rickey Minor, Stevie Wonder and Friends (7/25/11)

LA Times – Global Soul with Stevie Wonder at the Hollywood Bowl (7/25/11)

NBC – YOLA performs on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (video feature – 7/22/11)

NBC – Backstage at The Tonight Show with Musical Director Rickey Minor (video feature – 7/22/11)

University of Michigan – The Power of Music Education: Our Visit to YOLA (blog – 5/29/11)

For more YOLA-related press, photos, and video, visit our YOLA Media Library.

Student Spotlight

Name: Diane, age 7
Program: YOLA at HOLA
Instrument: Violin
You’ve had a lot of performances this year! Which one was your favorite? Our summer concert [at local Charles H. Kim Elementary School]. I got to see where a lot of my friends go to school.
What’s your favorite part of class? Playing my violin!
What’s the hardest thing you’re working on? Learning “Ode to Joy.”

Stakeholder Spotlight

As they embark on their sixth year, Education Through Music–Los Angeles expands to serve over 4,000 children with in-school music education, working with the Los Angeles, Burbank, and Compton Unified School Districts. This past spring, 150 music students from all of ETM-LA's partner schools came together in the organization's inaugural Music Unites the World Festival, playing and singing in ensemble under the guidance of special guest artists. They also participated in the National Association for Music Education's World’s Largest Concert. This summer has been electric, with a private concert by Joshua Bell and Hollywood artists to support the organization. Bell shares, "I notice a big difference walking into a school that has a music program versus one that doesn’t, in the children’s self-esteem and how they work together." ETM-LA students were also showcased on Oxygen’s The Glee Project. They worked, recorded, and performed with the top four Glee Project winners, creating a music video of My Chemical Romance’s "Sing." Liam, one student who participated, said, "I will keep playing instruments and sing till I physically can’t anymore…because music is my dream." For more info, please visit www.etmla.org.

Click here for more information about the YOLA Stakeholder Network.

Leadership support for the LA Phil's Education and Community Programs is provided by Fidelity Investments, the Annenberg Foundation, Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts, Amgen Foundation, The Rose Hills Foundation and the Lee and Hope Landis Warner YOLA Student Fund.