Photo Flash: Opera Legend Frederica von Stade Plays Sanders Theatre With Local Students

At a standing-room-only affair at Sanders Theatre, Longy School of Music of Bard College presented their second annual Sistema Side by Side Celebration on Friday, March 20, under the baton of the orchestra''s newly appointed Music Director Jorge Soto. The evening was part of an ongoing series of events at Longy that pairs students (aged 8-14) from El Sistema-inspired music programs throughout Massachusetts with members of the Longy Conservatory Orchestra in rehearsals and performances featuring nationally renowned conductors and guest artists. BroadwayWorld brings you photos of the event below!

This year, the sold-out audience was treated to spirited performances of Brahms'' Hungarian Dance No. 5 and Dvorák''s Symphony No. 9 in e minor, at which point world-renowned singer and artist Frederica von Stade took the stage and enchanted the sold-out audience with classic and playful tunes such as Rodgers and Hammerstein''s "Do-Re-Mi" from "The Sound of Music." While it certainly was not the first time Ms. von Stade performed these classics, she admitted on stage it was the first time that the average age of the orchestra she performed with was well under the age of 18.

Longy''s Sistema Side by Side Orchestra features children from the following El Sistema-inspired programs: Boston Strings Academy (Boston); Conservatory Lab Charter School (Brighton and Dorchester); Josiah Quincy Orchestra Program (Boston); Kids 4 Harmony (Pittsfield); Margarita Muñiz Academy (Jamaica Plain); El Sistema Somerville (Somerville); Youth and Family Enrichment Services Inc. (YOFES) (Hyde Park).

Following the performance, Ms. von Stade was presented with the Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award for the Elevation of Music in Society by Longy President, Karen Zorn and Jamie Bernstein, narrator, writer, broadcaster, and daughter of the late Leonard Bernstein. The award was authorized by the Bernstein family and established by Longy in 2000.

Proceeds from the event will fund scholarships and initiatives furthering Longy''s mission of preparing musicians to make a difference in the world on and off the stage. This mission is realized in part through assistantships and student placements in schools and other local organizations, including local music programs inspired by El Sistema, the Venezuelan-founded movement of community and skill building through rigorous music instruction.

Longy School of Music of Bard College, founded as Longy School of Music in 1915 by renowned oboist Georges Longy, is a degree-granting conservatory located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school serves approximately 250 undergraduate and graduate students from 36 states and 27 countries at its central Cambridge campus and recently opened a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Music program in Los Angeles, California.

Longy''s mission is to prepare musicians to make a difference in the world. It is rapidly gaining international recognition for its efforts to meet a changing musical landscape head on, giving its classically trained graduates the skills to perform, the ambition to teach, and the ability to reach new audiences and new communities beyond those traditionally associated with classical music.