Launching at the start of the 2023/24 season, New York Youth Symphony’s Crescendo will be a 44-piece string orchestra for New York City residents ages 10-18 years old. It will provide access to outstanding music education for a diverse range of students who have been adversely affected during the pandemic. In addition to weekly ensemble rehearsals, students will receive chamber music coaching, workshops, and masterclasses with professional musicians; plus, guidance on topics including audition preparation, audience engagement, careers in the arts, and festival and school admissions. Students will study and prepare music by historically underrepresented composers, including women, members of the LGBTQIA community, and people of color – opening the minds of these musicians making a more inclusive and thoughtful repertoire – as well as standard works from the classical canon. Crescendo will perform two concerts per season, at locations to be confirmed.  

The instrumentation for Crescendo will be strings only, for its pilot year. providing an on-ramp for students around the city at public middle and high schools, community music schools, and/or El Sistema programs. They will rehearse on Sunday afternoons during the school year under Ms. Chanphanipornkit. Another key component of the program will be an Artists-in-Residency program, engaging professional musicians to work with Ms. Chanphanipornkit throughout the year to coach and mentor Crescendo students. As a partner of Interlochen, Crescendo students will have the opportunity to apply for a full-tuition scholarship for the summer of 2024. 

NYYS Crescendo would provide more mentorship and leadership opportunities for NYYS students who will assist the younger members throughout the year, including running chamber music parties and playing side-by-side within the orchestra. Measures for success for NYYS Crescendo would include a student body reflective of the cultural diversity in NYC, students returning for multiple seasons, and gaining admittance into the NYYS Orchestra, performing arts high schools, and summer festivals.