Carnegie Hall

For 33 seasons, Carnegie Hall’s Link Up music education program has facilitated deeper connections between the concert hall and the classroom through an instrument-focused curriculum that culminates with students performing with a professional orchestra from their seats. The nearly 15,000 New York City-area students in grades 3-5 who participate in this program will travel to Carnegie Hall take part in one of six concerts in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage on Tuesday, May 22, Wednesday, May 23, and Thursday, May 24. The theme of this year’s concerts is Link Up: The Orchestra Sings—one of four Link Up curricula developed by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute—with an interactive program focused on melody. These annual concerts mark the first time that many students will have set foot in a concert hall. The Orchestra Sings at Carnegie Hall features Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Rossen Milanov, and is hosted by teaching artist and composer Thomas Cabaniss. The program will also include elementary school students from PS 100Q, Bank Street School for Children, and PS 165Q performing onstage as part of the ensemble. The featured schools were selected as part of an audition process that was open to all participants. Additionally, students from New Bridges Elementary will make a cameo video appearance that highlights their original composition, which has been arranged for a premiere by Orchestra of St. Luke’s by Mr. Cabaniss. Full program information is listed below.

The longest-running school program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI), Link Up provides an opportunity for its participants to join the orchestra by teaching them to sing and play an instrument in the classroom. In addition to students in New York, young people across the country and around the world are also taking part in Link Up. Partner orchestras can utilize any of the program materials created by Carnegie Hall—including teacher guides, student materials, concert scripts, and concert visuals—for free as they work with schools in their own communities.

The Link Up programs are now comprised of four distinctive, year-long curricula: The Orchestra Moves(exploring movement within music), The Orchestra Sings (exploring melody), The Orchestra Rocks(exploring rhythm), and The Orchestra Swings (exploring the intersection of classical music and jazz). 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. Link Up curricula and program materials are now being shared at no cost with more than 100 orchestras across the country from Alaska to Florida, as well as in Canada, Japan, Kenya, and Spain serving more than 400,000 students and teachers around the world. As expansion continues, the program’s materials have been translated into several languages, including Spanish and Japanese.

The following national and international Link Up partners are new this season:

Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana
Cape Symphony, Massachusetts
Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Delaware
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, Virginia
Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, Colorado
Idaho State Civic Symphony, Idaho
Longview Symphony, Texas
Plano Symphony Orchestra, Texas
Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, Massachusetts
Santa Cruz Symphony, California
Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana
Sioux City Symphony, Iowa
South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Indiana
Starkville Mississippi State University Symphony Association, Mississippi

For a full list of national Link Up partners during the 2017–2018 season, please click here.

About Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute
Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI) creates visionary programs that embody Carnegie Hall’s commitment to music education, playing a central role in fulfilling the Hall’s mission of making great music accessible to as many people as possible. With unparalleled access to the world’s greatest artists, WMI’s programs are designed to inspire audiences of all ages, nurture tomorrow’s musical talent, and harness the power of music to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. An integral part of Carnegie Hall’s concert season, these programs facilitate creative expression, develop musical skills and capacities at all levels, and encourage participants to make lifelong personal connections to music. The Weill Music Institute generates new knowledge through original research and is committed to giving back to its community and the field, sharing an extensive range of online music education resources and program materials for free with teachers, orchestras, arts organizations, and music lovers worldwide. More than half a million people each year engage in WMI’s programs through national and international partnerships, in New York City schools and community settings, and at Carnegie Hall. This includes 400,000 students and teachers worldwide who participate in WMI’s Link Up music education program for students in grades 3 through 5, made possible through partnerships with over 100 orchestras in the US, Canada, Japan, Kenya, and Spain.

For more information, please visit: carnegiehall.org/Education.

Program Information
Tuesday, May 22 at 10:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m.
Wednesday, May 23 at 10:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m.
Thursday, May 24 at 10:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Rossen Milanov, Conductor
Thomas Cabaniss, Host

Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Vocals
Christian Figueroa, Vocals
Shanna Lesniak, Vocals
Donald Jones Jr., Dancer
Tali Rubinstein, Recorder
Marcus Santos & Grooversity, Percussion Ensemble
Students from PS 100Q, Bank Street School for Children, and PS 165 Q, Ensemble

Melissa Rae Mahon, Director
Dan Scully, Visuals Designer
Stacey Boggs, Lighting Designer
Nevin Steinberg, Sound Designer

THOMAS CABANISS "Come to Play"
JOSEPH BRACKETT "Simple Gifts" (arr. Robert Maggio)
AARON COPLAND "Variations on a Shaker Melody" from Appalachian Spring
ANTONÍN DVORÁK Largo from Symphony No. 9, "From the New World"
THOMAS CABANISS "To Make Words Sing"
IGOR STRAVINSKY Finale from The Firebird Suite (1919 version)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN "Ode to Joy" from Symphony No. 9 (arr. Thomas Cabaniss)
JIM PAPOULIS "Oye"

Lead support for Link Up is provided by Fund II Foundation.

Additional funding for Link Up is provided by The Ambrose Monell Foundation, JJR Foundation, The Barker Welfare Foundation, and Joan and Sanford I. Weill and the Weill Family Foundation.

Link Up in New York City schools is made possible, in part, by an endowment gift from The Irene Diamond Fund. 

Image at top of release by Chris Lee.