Thousands Of NYC-Area Students Participate In LINK UP: The Orchestra Moves At Carnegie Hall

Nearly 15,000 New York City-area students in grades 3-5 travel to Carnegie Hall this week to participate in Link Up: The Orchestra Moves-an interactive program developed by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute that explores how composers use the orchestra to create musical movement.

As students sing and play instruments on stage and from their seats, the concert program - hosted by teaching artist and composer Thomas Cabaniss - features Rossen Milanov conducting the Link Up Orchestra along with digital graphics and animations projected on stage, a surprise performance by an all-female samba reggae percussion band, and theatrical performances that bring The Orchestra Moves to life. Kelly Hall-Tompkins (Fiddler on the Roof), Jannina Norpoth (PUBLIQuartet) & Edward W. Hardy (The Woodsman) are among the members of the Link Up Orchestra.

The program also welcomes elementary school students from PS 254K, PS 971, and PS 165Q to perform onstage as part of the orchestra and features a student composition screened onstage from PS 295. The Orchestra Moves highlights works by Beethoven, Márquez, and Bizet, among others, along with an interactive world premiere performance of a new work by Puerto Rican-born composer Angélica Negrón (commissioned by Carnegie Hall as part of its 125 Commissions Project).

For 34 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, often marking the first time many students will have set foot in a concert hall.