New York String Orchestra
The New York String Orchestra Seminar is one of the country’s most acclaimed professional training programs. In 1969, arts administrator and manager Frank Salomon created the seminar for Alexander Schneider, one of the 20th century’s preeminent musical figures whose deep commitment to young artists was an inspiration to a generation of musicians. Before his death in 1993, Schneider chose Jaime Laredo to carry on the project’s mission. In its four decades, the seminar has introduced more than 1,800 exceptional young musicians to new musical ideas, offering them chamber music coaching from members of the world’s top ensembles, and giving them the challenge of performing two concerts, presented by Carnegie Hall. All participants receive full scholarships to ensure no gifted young artist is denied the opportunity due to personal financial limitations.
Alumni of the New York String Orchestra Seminar are found in leadership roles around the world. They include cellist Yo-Yo Ma; violinists Cho-Liang Lin, Gil Shaham, Kyoko Takezawa, and Shlomo Mintz; members of the Guarneri, Emerson, Orion, Muir, Johannes, Brentano, Takács, and Kronos string quartets; concertmasters and members of the Philadelphia, Metropolitan Opera, and Cleveland orchestras, the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics, and the Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, and National symphony orchestras; conductors Peter Oundjian, Joseph Swensen, Douglas Boyd, and Marin Alsop; and faculty members of the most distinguished conservatories and universities in the US.
The 2010 New York String Orchestra is comprised of 64 students (ages 16–23) from conservatories, colleges, and high schools across the United States and Canada. Selected through highly competitive national auditions, the young musicians give up their winter holidays to come to New York City for 10 days. Under the leadership of Jaime Laredo, participants immerse themselves in orchestral rehearsals and take part in chamber music sessions with master artists, including members of the Emerson, Juilliard, Orion, and Guarneri string quartets. This year’s chamber music faculty includes bassists Peter Lloyd* and Kurt Muroki*; cellists Bonnie Hampton, Sharon Robinson, and Peter Wiley*; violinists Cathy Cho, Eugene Drucker, Ida Kavafian, Cho-Liang Lin*, Daniel Phillips*, Todd Phillips*, Sylvia Rosenberg*, Stephen Shipps*, Laurie Smukler*, and Hiroko Yajima; violists Samuel Rhodes, Steven Tenenbom*, and Michael Tree; flutists Bart Feller*, Tara Helen O’Connor, and Carol Wincenc; oboist Linda Strommen*; clarinetist Anthony McGill*; and hornist Stewart Rose. (*Indicates New York String Orchestra Seminar alumni.)
The New York String Orchestra Seminar is a program of Mannes College The New School for Music’s New School Concerts Department: Frank Salomon, Founding Director; Rohana Elias-Reyes, Director; Nate Epply, administrative assistant; Music Advisors: Pamela Frank, Jaime Laredo, Cho-Liang Lin, Arnold Steinhardt, and Michael Tree; Advisory Committee members: Dominick DeRiso, Mark Epstein, Fiona Morgan Fein, Bart Feller, Theodore Harris, Elisabeth Lorin, Frank Salomon, Linda Strommen, Jani Tree, and Helen Wright.
New School Concerts thanks the conductor, coaches, soloists, audition panelists, and advisors for their invaluable contributions to the project and gratitude to the many others whose time, effort, and resources helped to make the Seminar possible. Our thanks go to the Cleveland Institute of Music, The Colburn School, Eastman School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, The Shepherd School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, and Wellington Hotel. We thank the following friends for their extra efforts on behalf of the project: Erik Bestmann, Patricia Davis, Bart Feller, Valerie Feuer, Mayuki Fukuhara, Mark Holloway, Dean Joel Lester, Don Liuzzi, Mary Malin, Raymond Mase, Frank Morelli, Kurt Muroki, Tara Helen O’Connor, Daniel Phillips, Susan Sawyer, Michael Seabrook, Stephen Shipps, and Hiroko Yajima.
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Jaime Laredo
Performing across the globe for more than five decades, Jaime Laredo has excelled in multiple roles as soloist, conductor, recitalist, pedagogue, and chamber musician. His education and development were greatly influenced by his studies with masters Josef Gingold, Ivan Galamian, Pablo Casals, and George Szell. At the age of 17, Mr. Laredo won the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium, launching his rise to international prominence.
In demand worldwide as a conductor and a soloist, Mr. Laredo has held the position of Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra since 1999. He also holds the position of Artistic Director of New York’s renowned Chamber Music at 92Y series, where he has created an important forum for chamber music that has developed a devoted following. His own chamber ensemble, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, consistently thrills audiences around the globe with its inspiring performances of traditional repertoire and newly commissioned works. The trio was founded nearly 35 years ago by Laredo, his wife cellist Sharon Robinson, and pianist Joseph Kalichstein.
His stewardships of the annual New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall and the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis have become beloved educational pillars of the string community. In 2009, Mr. Laredo and his wife became the Artistic Directors of the Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati.
Mr. Laredo has recorded close to 100 discs. He has been awarded the German Record Critics’ Award; a Grammy Award for his recording of the Brahms piano quartets with Emanuel Ax, Isaac Stern, and Yo-Yo Ma; as well as seven Grammy nominations. Mr. Laredo also holds a prestigious chair position at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
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