Young musicians will have the opportunity to study with professionals from the Carroll Symphony when the CSO Music Academy opens its inaugural year on Saturday, August 25, 2018, at the Carrollton Center for the Arts. The Saturdays-only program is limited to 100 students from first through 12th grade, novices to experienced.
Music Director and Conductor of the CSO Terry Lowry described the Academy’s mission, “To enrich the lives of children through great music, outstanding instrument instruction, and ensemble and performance opportunities.”
Students will have a weekly half-hour private lesson, a weekly half-hour duet lesson, and later in the morning an ensemble lesson, initially in their chosen instrumental family–brass, winds, or strings. Possibly beginning as early as October, the students from the those instrumental voices will be placed into either a beginning orchestra or an advanced orchestra.
CSO Academy students will have additional mentorship opportunities through side-by-side rehearsals with the Carroll Symphony Orchestra and the Carroll Community Wind Ensemble.
Registration for the CSO Academy is now open, limited to 100 students, and is made through Carrollton’s Center for the Arts. Needs-based scholarships are available.
Lowry stressed that one of the reasons for the Symphony’s creating the Academy is “to serve our local music educators, who do such a fantastic job, by helping their students prepare for District and All-State auditions, college auditions, solo and ensemble performances…just helping them become better players so that the teachers can have even more effective time in the classroom.”
Chris Carr will serve as the liaison between the Carroll Symphony Orchestra Academy and local band directors. Knowing that during the academic year students will have band festivals and competitions, the leaders of the Academy plan to provide some flexibility for those events.
The CSO Academy is modeled after The Merit School in Chicago, according to Lowry, who points out that the Merit’s program “has been replicated in Harlem and now in Carrollton!”
Lessons will be taught in all sections of the orchestra: brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion by members of the Carroll Symphony Orchestra.
Lowry noted, “We are grateful to Tim Chapman and the Center for the Arts for their support, and we hope that through this partnership–and the other elements of the partnership between Carroll Symphony Orchestra and Carrollton Center for the Arts–to make the arts community in Carrollton the envy of every arts community in Georgia.”
Interested parents can register their students for the CSO Music Academy in person at the City of Carrollton’s Center for the Arts or on the Center for the Arts website https://www.carrolltonarts.org/music-programs/.
Readers can learn more about The Carroll Symphony Orchestra on their website https://www.mycarrollsymphony.com and at www.facebook.com/CarrollSymphonyOrchestra.
Families will also have the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Carroll Symphony at the Center’s Fall Registration Fair this Saturday, August 4, from 1-3 and 5-7 at Carrollton’s Center for the Arts.
