Philadelphia Youth Orchestra's Bravo Brass to Perform at 14th Annual Festival Concert, 5/13

The talented members of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra's Bravo Brass ensemble will hold their 14th Annual Festival Concert on Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. The all-brass ensemble consists of promising high school and college-aged instrumentalists. The performance will take place at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 1625 Locust Street in Philadelphia, PA and will feature the music of Bizet, Gershwin, and Wagner.

Bravo Brass's members have spent a great amount of time preparing for this performance, which is entitled "Brass on Stage" and features transcriptions of notable operatic music. Paul Bryan, Bravo Brass's conductor and Dean of Faculty and Students at Curtis Institute of Music, is very proud of their commitment. He said, "All the members of the ensemble are extremely devoted and passionate about their music. I am certain their admirable dedication will be reflected in their performance."

General admission for this event is $15, but students may attend for free. For more information, please call (215) 545-0502.

Bravo Brass, founded in 1997, is the brass ensemble program of Philadelphia Youth Orchestra led by Director and Conductor Paul Bryan. The only year-round brass ensemble in the Philadelphia area and one of only three in the country, Bravo Brass offers the highest level of individual and ensemble training and performance opportunities for the most accomplished young brass musicians in the area.

Now in its 77th year, training tomorrow's leaders, the renowned Philadelphia Youth Orchestra organization, led by President and Music Director, Maestro Louis Scaglione, is one of the nation's oldest and most respected community music education and youth orchestra performance programs, providing talented young musicians from across the tri-state area with exceptional musical training. Students go on to excel in many diverse fields, and it is with pride that Philadelphia Youth Orchestra notes that many members of the prestigious Philadelphia Orchestra are alumni. The organization is comprised of six program ensembles designed to meet specific needs and experience levels of students selected through a competitive audition process. The anchor group is the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra (PYO), conducted by President and Music Director Louis Scaglione, featuring 120 gifted instrumentalists who range in age from 14-21. Young musicians 12-18 years old are featured in PYO's companion ensemble, the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra, which is led by Director and Conductor Maestra Rosalind Erwin, who is Music Director and Conductor of Drexel University Orchestra. Philadelphia Young Musicians Orchestra (PYMO), directed by Maestro Kenneth Bean, is a beginning to intermediate-level full symphonic orchestra that provides most students with their first introduction to large orchestral playing featuring students age 10-17 years old. Bravo Brass, directed by Curtis Institute Dean of Faculty and Students, Paul Bryan, is an all brass ensemble for promising middle and high-school instrumentalists. PRYSM (Philadelphia Region Youth String Music) and PRYSM Young Artists ensembles provide string large ensemble and sectional master class instruction for beginning and intermediate musicians ages 6-14. The director and conductor of PRYSM is Gloria DePasquale, cellist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and conductor of PRYSM Young Artists is Andrea Weber. Tune Up Philly (TUP) is PYO's engagement program, directed by Paul Smith, that focuses on creating and inspiring true community by providing children in under-resourced communities with invaluable opportunities to learn and perform a differentiated orchestral music curriculum. www.pyos.org.