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Keeping Tempo
Volume 6, Number 2, November 2014
Inside this issue:
Report: Double Reed
Camp in NYC
2
Conductors’ Notes:
Stay Musical During the
Hiatus
2
Executive Director’s
Corner: Envisioning the
Future
3
Student Spotlight: James
Kong
4
Practice-A-Thon Yields
Astonishing Results
4
Two YOBC Students
Selected for NAfME
5
Benefit Artist
Announcement
5
YOBC Alumnus Max
Swan Competing in PHL
Live Finals
6
Important Dates:

November 22–23, 2014:
Fall Concerts

December 6, 2014: Barnes
& Noble Bookfair with
special musical reading

December 7, 2014:
Treefest, Bucks County
Visitors Center, Bensalem

January 11, 2015: Spring
rehearsals begin

February 19, 2015: Fanfare Winds Concert, Cairn
University

February 22, 2015: Chamber Recital, BCCC 8:00 pm

March 7, 2015: Annual Live
Show & Auction Benefit,
New Hope Winery
Fanfare Woodwind Quintet Part of YOBC’s
Growing Chamber Ensemble Program
Several years ago YOBC
conducted a survey of all
of its members to see
what we were doing right
and what we needed to
improve. One of the most
popular suggestions was
to provide more opportunities for chamber music
and small ensembles.
Thus some new ensembles
were born—Honors
Strings, Saxophone Ensemble, and Woodwind and
Brass Quintets among
them. This year, again by
popular demand, another
woodwind quintet has
been added, and our most
advanced wind players
were given a new designation—Fanfare Woodwind Quintet—and a professional coach. Made up
of five wind players from
YOBC’s Fanfare Winds
ensemble, these musicians meet weekly to rehearse together. On alternate weeks they receive
professional coaching.
Fanfare Woodwind
Quintet’s new coach is Erica Cherry. Ms. Cherry is
skilled as a performer,
teacher, and teaching artist. She studied at the University of Cincinnati Col-
lege-Conservatory of Music
where she recently graduated with a Masters of Music. Before that she studied
at Carnegie Mellon University, where she was a twotime recipient of the Silberman Clarinet Award given
for musical excellence.
The Fanfare Woodwind Quintet will perform
on December 20 at Pennswood Village in Newtown
and at the Fanfare Winds
concert on February 19 at
Cairn University in Langhorne. Most of YOBC’s
chamber ensembles will be
active during the holiday
hiatus and most of these
events are free. Check out
Erica Cherry
the Chamber Concert
schedule on our website
for dates and details about
these appearances.
Clockwise: Laura Krause, flute; Emily Day, basooon; Tasha
Schapiro, French horn; Justin Shaw, clarinet; Neel Shah, oboe.
Report: Double Reed Camp in NYC
In early August, I participated in a
teen camp at the International Double Reed Society convention in New
York City. At the camp, there were 14
bassoonists and 28 oboists from
across the United States, which is the
most double reed players I have ever
seen in one place.
I learned about many things I
didn’t know existed. I saw a jazz bassoonist. A jazz bassoonist! I didn’t
know that was a thing until this
camp. Our camp director was so intrigued by the idea of a jazz bassoonist that we played The Pink
Panther as our last piece in the final performance. In this piece we
had one section where an English
horn player, two oboists, a bassoonist, and a contra bassoonist all
played improvised solos. Our final
concert also focused on chamber
ensembles. It included a quartet of
two English horns and two oboes
playing Oboi, Oboi, which makes fun
of classical music, and a trio of oboes
playing Hedwig’s Theme from Harry
Potter. I was part of a bassoon quartet
that played Prelude, Fugue, and
Scherzo by Gordon Jacobs, which was
well received by the audience. As a
combined group we played Military
March Number One and Hungarian
Dance Number Five in addition to
The Pink Panther.
This camp also taught me how
to make reeds, which is an important part of any double reed
player’s life. Though many attempts
failed, some of my reeds cracking
right in half, I came out of the
camp with one playable reed. As
part of the process, you get to pick
what color string to wrap the end
of the reed with, and one of my
friends, Max, made his pink with
sparkles. It was obviously the
manliest reed of the bunch.
During the camp, I also got to
spend some time at the actual convention on the NYU campus. The
convention covered four floors and
had every type of a bassoon and oboe
imaginable. I tried an albino bassoon
that has unstained maple wood, or in
other words: it’s white. One of the
company’s exhibitors even took a
picture of me trying it and posted it
on their Facebook page.
I also met many people from all
over the world, who came to this
convention. I met a nice oboist from
France and a man from Germany
who was looking for a new contra
bassoon.
Every night we went to a concert
that featured oboe and bassoon soloists. The first night was a three-hour
long concert consisting of three oboe
concertos and three bassoon concertos. Needless to say, after the first
hour and half and only two concertos, the man in the row behind me
fell asleep and started to snore. Unfortunately his snoring wasn’t even
in time. The last concert was a complete contrast. There was everything
from one of the drummers using his
sticks on the strings of the bass to
electric bassoons. It was, in my opinion, the most amusing and musical
concert of the week.
Overall, this camp was an
amazing experience that I would
recommend to any double reed
player. I would also suggest the concerts to any musician, simply because they show the complexities
and the abilities of the instruments
and the musicians. However, you are
going to have to wait until the festival comes back to America, because
next year it’s in Tokyo.
Emily Horn played oboe in YOBC’s Symphony Orchestra and Fanfare Winds.
She graduated in the spring and is currently a freshman at Duke University.
Conductors’ Notes: Stay Musical During the Hiatus
Following the fall concerts, YOBC
students will have a hiatus from
regular rehearsals. Rehearsals begin again on January 11. But our
conductors have some suggestions
for how to stay in top musical form
during the break. Here are a few
ideas for you to consider.
 In front of a crackling fire, sipping a cup of your favorite hot
chocolate … enjoy listening to
Dvorak’s New World Symphony
Page 2


and the first movement of
Lalo’s Cello Concerto (the repertoire for YOBC Symphony's
spring semester).
Check out a master class on
New World Symphony’s amazing new site, http://
musaic.nws.edu/.
Go down to Wanamakers in
Center City to listen to a noon
organ concert and perhaps do
some shopping. Treat yourself


to lunch afterwards at the
Reading Terminal or Chinatown.
Drop your instrument off at the
repair shop for a fine tuning.
Grab an instrumental friend
and go to a nursing home or
visit a shut-in and play holiday
music.
Have a wonderful holiday season!
Keeping Tempo
Executive Director’s Corner: Envisioning the Future
Last week my life looked like a
geography lesson! My “to do” list
was as long as the Nile. A Mount
Everest of paperwork lay piled
on my desk. My house looked
like Hurricane Sandy had just
blown through. Got to get a game
plan. I drew up a list of everything I needed to do and planned
out exactly when I was going to
do it. It was a crazy busy schedule, but if I could just stay on
target, I could get everything
done. Get to work. Stick with the
plan. Stay on target. I was in the
heads-down, no-time-for-smalltalk working groove. Then, just
like that…everything changed. I
heard a knock on the door.
Opened the door. Three redcheeked little children stood
smiling up at me with treats
held tightly in their chubby
hands. “Surprise, Grammy!”
Sometimes life reminds us
to step back and look at the
big picture. The important
things. The reasons why we do
what we do, all day long,
every day. In a world where
the pace of life rushes forward
like the waters of Niagara
Falls, these light bulb moments remind us of what is
truly important.
Organizations need a bigpicture perspective too. YOBC
requires a lot work and support
at the board level. Five years ago
YOBC board members took a
step back from the front lines of
organizational business to consider our goals and what was
most important to us. Through
that process we developed a fiveyear strategic plan which is
posted on the YOBC website.
Most of the document is a game
plan which outlines organizational goals and a timeline for
achieving them. But the really
important part of our strategic
plan, the part that gives meaning and purpose to everything
else, is contained in two short
sections near the beginning of
Volume 6, Number 2, November 2014
the document:
the Mission
and Vision
Statements.
Each time I
read these
statements I
am inspired all
over again.
They remind
me why I love
YOBC.
What is our
purpose?
YOBC creates
opportunities
for young musicians to achieve
artistic excellence through enriching classical music experiences. It
sounds a little stiff, but here’s the
deal. Kids come to us full of hopes
and dreams, and with a love and
Organizations need a bigpicture perspective too.
YOBC requires a lot work
and support at the board
level.
talent for music. We understand
those dreams and our role in helping each student to reach them.
What do we hope to become?
Our Vision Statement gives real
insight into the philosophy that
drives our programs and the culture we promote. YOBC envisions
creating programs that help students grow beyond the bounds of
what they believe is possible.
YOBC envisions sustaining a positive, nurturing environment that
supports students in their musical
growth and sustains their love of
music. YOBC seeks to impact students beyond their musical
growth to enhance personal development and leadership skills. We
envision making these opportunities available to all students, re-
gardless of their financial resources.
This is a student-centered
vision, focused squarely on helping kids. Everything we do is
rooted in this vision. It is a vision
that continues to inspire me
every day. Each time I look
into the face of a student, I am
reminded of the potential that
YOBC has to encourage, nurture, and guide a young person
to the next step in his or her
life.
This year, the YOBC Board
of Directors will again take a
step back from everyday tasks
and begin work on our next
strategic plan. We welcome
your ideas and invite you to
dream with us as we create a vision that will impact the lives of
the next generation of YOBC musicians.
—Colleen Sweetsir
YOBC Executive Director
Page 3
tudent
potlight: James Kong
James Kong is a violist in YOBC’s
Ripieno ensemble and has been a
member of YOBC for two years. He
began his musical career with the
piano starting in first grade. Currently an eighth grader at Lenape
Middle School, James began playing
viola in fourth grade when he was
nine years old. He was first introduced to the viola when the fourth
graders were presented a variety of
instruments. “I didn't want to play
a common instrument like the violin, or have to lug around a giant
cello,” James says. “However, I did
want to play an instrument with a
deep voice, like the cello, and so the
viola was the perfect match.”
James first heard about YOBC
while playing in a select ensemble
at a concert. “I knew that
I wanted to play in an
orchestra outside of
school, and YOBC
seemed to be the perfect
fit for what I wanted.”
Besides YOBC, James
plays first chair viola in
his school’s eighth-grade
orchestra and in the select string ensemble.
When he’s not playing
music, James says, “My
favorite subjects in school
are math and science.
Outside of school, I play tennis and
basketball. I also like to watch
movies and play video games in my
free time over the weekend. I also
enjoy hanging out with my friends.”
James Kong
James expects to continue playing with YOBC, and he plans to
audition for the BCMEA county
orchestra. In the future, James
hopes to become an engineer.
Practice-A-Thon Yields Astonishing Results
What was all that music you heard
last month? It was the sound of
YOBC musicians practicing … to
support YOBC! The Practice-AThon took place from October 5–19,
and during that 15-day period, our
participating students practiced for
almost 40,000 minutes. The Practice-A-Thon was held to support
YOBC educational programs — specifically this year’s master classes
with Curtis Strings, a Curtis woodwind quintet, Dr. Quincy Hilliard,
and a special visit from the Flutronix flute duo. Every YOBC student will take part in one or more of
these master classes.
The Practice-A-Thon pitted ensembles against each other as the
one with the most average practice
minutes will win a pizza party. The
top prizes of $100 each will be given
to the student who raised the most
money and the student who practiced the most minutes. Stay tuned,
because the prize winners will be
announced at the YOBC fall concerts.
Overall, $8,000 was raised for
YOBC. About 80 students took part
Page 4
and 200 individual sponsors supported their efforts. The benefits to YOBC
were not purely financial,
though. Colleen Sweetsir
reported on the progress of
Jonathan Bywater, a member of Wind Symphony and
also her private student.
As he was warming up for
his weekly lesson, Mrs.
Sweetsir was impressed
with how great he sounded.
He sounded markedly stronger
than he did the previous week. She
told him that he sounded like he
had really been practicing, and he
replied that he used to practice a
half hour every day, but now he
practices an hour every day. “It's
the Practice-A-Thon. Now it's just
part of my regular practice routine.
It's working really well! I'm really
enjoying it!”
YOBC is very grateful to all the
enthusiastic musicians, parents,
friends, family, and teachers who
made our event a huge success.
Come hear the results of all their
hard work at the fall concerts.
Jonathan Bywater practicing the horn.
Keeping Tempo
Two YOBC Students Selected for NAfME Nationals
This year the National Association
for Music Educators (NAfME) AllNational honor ensembles gathered
in Nashville, Tennessee from October 26–29. And YOBC was again
well represented with John Wagner
and Maya Hayden in the Symphony
Orchestra. Before being selected as
one of the nation’s 670 most elite
high school musicians they were
first named the “best of the best”
out of approximately 2.5 million
students nationwide at local, district, and state music festivals.
John and Maya joined exceptional young musicians to showcase
their expert musicianship and to
perform a gala concert celebrating
music education and the arts. The
performance took place on the
world-famous Grand Ole Opry
House stage. Selected students
rehearsed and performed a challenging repertoire under the baton
of four prominent conductors.
The NAfME Symphony was
conducted by Gerard Schwarz,
Music Director of the Eastern
Music Festival and Conductor
Laureate of the Seattle Symphony. Mr. Schwarz has received
hundreds of honors and accolades
including Emmy Awards,
GRAMMY nominations, ASCAP
Awards, and the Ditson Conductor’s Award.
John reports that he had a
wonderful experience in Nashville:
“Working with Gerard Schwarz was
great, because he was able to
raise our level of playing while still
having fun. The musical selections
were great, and I enjoyed working
as a team with such talented musicians to make beautiful music.”
Benefit Artist
Announcement
YOBC is pleased to announce that
Griffin House will headline our annual auction and live show benefit
at New Hope Winery on March 7.
The Nashville-based singersongwriter has released several albums since his debut in 2003. In
August 2004, MTV/VH1 music journalist Bill Flanagan named House
to his shortlist of the best emerging
songwriters in the United States.
House has toured extensively, opening for artists such as Ron
Sexsmith, Patti Scialfa, Josh
Ritter, John Mellencamp, Mat
Kearney, and The Cranberries.
Since 2007 House has been headlining his own shows. Over the past
decade he has released eight albums, the most recent being Balls
(2013).
Don’t miss the opportunity to
hear this exciting new artist.
YOBC’s Auction and Live Show
benefit takes place Saturday,
March 7, 2015 at the New Hope
Winery. Tickets are on sale at
www.yobc.org and also in the
lobby during rehearsals. Contact
Dori Clough for more information
or to find out how you can help:
[email protected].
Volume 6, Number 2, November 2014
Page 5
252 Hollow Branch Lane
Yardley, PA 19067
Email: [email protected]
yobc.org
The YOUTH ORCHESTRA
OF
BUCKS COUNTY, Pennsyl
vania
(YOBC) was founded in 1991
with the
sponsorship and support of
Bucks
County Community College
. Its mission is to create opportunitie
s for
young musicians to achieve
artistic excellence through enriching
classical
musical experiences. In 23
seasons the
organization has grown fro
m a single,
60-member ensemble to 14
ensembles
with over 240 young music
ians.
YOBC Alumnus Max Swan Competing in PHL Live Finals
Max Swan played alto saxophone
as a member of YOBC’s Wind Ensemble from 2005–07. He went on
to graduate from the University of
the Arts in Philadelphia and has
been active in the city as a jazz
saxophonist. He plays with LP
Stiles, a genre-bending group of
musicians who have come together to create what its members
hope is, and will continue to be,
an original sound.
Recently, as a soloist, Max was
nominated for the PHL Live Center
Stage festival and competed in a
final round in Center City Philadelphia.
PHL Live is an initiative of
Philadelphia councilman-at-large
David Oh to shine a light not only
on established local acts but also on
breakout stars who otherwise would
not have the resources to showcase
their talents. Councilman Oh recently introduced a bill to promote
Philadelphia as a live entertainment city. Oh said that while he is
Page 6
Max Swan
not a music expert, he values “the
importance of music and art and
what it does to help develop people.”
The PHL Live festival was
open to musicians from a number
of genres (classical, country/folk,
hip-hop/rap, jazz, world, pop/
dance, R&B, rock, gospel, and DJ).
A panel of judges picked the top
five in each category and advanced
them into the competition. Max
competed as one of the five in the
jazz category.
The best of each category will
be announced at the final show at
the Trocadero, Friday, December 5
in Philadelphia. The show will include performances from several
of the champion musicians and
bands. The winner will receive
recording studio time, a $1,000
cash prize, a demo album, and a
performance opportunity at the
Dell Music Center which seats
6,000 people.
You can listen to some of
Max’s music, including “Free” —
the winning submission that allowed him to be part of the PHL
Live festival — on YouTube and
on Soundcloud.
Keeping Tempo