CARNEGIE HALL BRINGS TOGETHER THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS FOR INTERACTIVE CONCERTS WITH THE ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S,
MAY 23, 24, AND 27
Rossen Milanov Conducts with Special Guest Violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain
Link Up Program Reaches Nearly 350,000 Students Worldwide Through 82 Partner Orchestras;
New Link Up Partners Added in Brazil, Kenya, and Mexico
 For over 30 years, Link Up—a hands-on curriculum that invites students in grades 3 to 5 to make and explore music—has culminated in springtime, interactive children’s concerts for thousands of New York City students who are invited to come together at Carnegie Hall. More recently, Carnegie Hall has also provided this program free-of-charge to over 80 orchestra partners across the United States and abroad, reaching many more thousands of children who join together to make music in their own communities. The Link Up curriculum and concert program was developed by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.
During the 2015–2016 season, approximately 15,000 New York City students and teachers are participating in The Orchestra Rocks, which explores rhythm and timing through a range of orchestral repertoire. Six culminating concerts at Carnegie Hall on May 23, 24, and 27 feature engaging interactive performances of music by Verdi, Stravinsky, and Holst by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Rossen Milanov, and hosted by composer Thomas Cabaniss. Joining the orchestra on stage is violinist and composer Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), who performs the “Tribe” movement from his Voodoo Violin Concerto No. 1, an eclectic work combining a mix of styles and sounds, including blues, jazz, hip-hop, and classical. In addition to these May performances in New York City, Link Up curricula and program materials are now being shared for free with 82 orchestras across the country from Alaska to Florida, as well as in Canada, Spain, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and Kenya, serving approximately 350,000 students and teachers around the world. With materials created by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, Link Up pairs orchestras with students at schools in their local communities to explore orchestral repertoire and fundamental musical skills, including creative work and composition, through a highly participatory music curriculum. The curricula is composed of three distinctive, year-long program guides: The Orchestra Moves (exploring movement within music), The Orchestra Sings (exploring melody), and The Orchestra Rocks (exploring rhythm). Next season, Link Up premieres a new, fourth curriculum, The Orchestra Swings, which brings a jazz ensemble together with the orchestra to explore the many ways that music can swing through elements of rhythm, form, improvisation, and communication. Link Up materials are designed for use in classrooms throughout the school year, helping students prepare to take part in a culminating concert by their local orchestra at which they sing, play the recorder, or play the violin with the orchestra from their seats. As expansion continues—Link Up will be presented by over 90 orchestras next season—the program’s materials have been translated into several languages including Spanish, Japanese, and Portuguese. For its first season of Link Up, the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra has incorporated a piece by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos into The Orchestra Moves curriculum. Kenya also participates in its first Link Up season with The Orchestra Moves featuring a concert facilitated by the Art of Music Foundation, while Orquesta Filharmónica de Boca Del Río in Mexico partners with Link Up for The Orchestra Rocks in Spanish. The following national and international Link Up partners are new this season: Amarillo Symphony, TX For a full list of National Link Up partners during the 2015–2016 season, please click here. About Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute Program Information THOMAS CABANISS “Come to Play” Lead support for Link Up is provided by the Fund II Foundation. Additional funding for Link Up is provided by the Ambrose Monell Foundation and the Barker Welfare Foundation. Link Up in New York City schools is made possible, in part, by an endowment gift from The Irene Diamond Fund. The Weill Music Institute’s programs are made available to a nationwide audience, in part, by an endowment grant from the Citi Foundation. |
