A different kind of music program . . .

What kind of music do you listen to?
You probably listen to many different styles.
So do we.

Because we embrace diversity in all of its manifestations at NYA, we believe students should learn about a wide range of music. Come to one of our concerts and you’ll hear the kind of standard ensembles you would expect in a school: Chamber Singers, String Ensemble, Chorus, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band. But you will also hear much more: Trinidadian steel pan, West African choral pieces, Japanese Shakuhachi, A capella, Led Zepplin, Klezmer. This diversity means there’s an opportunity for everyone, and it’s “cool” to be a musician: 100% of Middle School Students and 70% of Upper School Students participate in a music ensemble.

Over the past few years, the music faculty have asked the question, “What should a music program for the 21st century look like?” After considering that question, we’ve come to believe that a music program should offer:

• Diverse music offerings that include traditional, ethnic and contemporary styles
• High standards
• Opportunities for students to follow their own musical interests in a supported but rigorous environment
• Music education that includes music theory and critical listening skills
• Music as a tool to help us understand and participate in different cultures

So come hear us sing and play. You might see our Treble Chorus singing “Al Shlosha D’varim,” the ‘Beatles’ singing three-part harmony to screaming teenage girls, the jazz combo delving into the world of bebop harmonic improvisation, the Middle School Band playing a Sousa march, or the string ensemble performing Stravinsky. Come catch a student’s senior recital or one of our small groups playing for a local gallery opening. We take our work very seriously, but we never forget that music is something that you play.

Facts about the NYA Music Department:

Every year, NYA kids are selected to participate in honors groups like:

Maine All-State Band Maine All-State Choir Maine All-State Orchestra District II Orchestra District II Band District II Jazz Band District II Choir

ACDA All-Eastern Choir Portland Youth Wind Ensemble Portland Youth Symphony Orchestra Coastal Youth Orchestra Maine Youth Orchestra ASTA Statewide String Festival

• Interlochen
• Putney School
• MECA
• Maine Jazz Camp
• Southern Maine Music Academy
• National Guitar Workshop
• School of Museum of Fine Arts-Boston
• New England Music Camp

Our students have gone on to study music at colleges like:

NYU McGill University of Chicago Columbia College Chicago Yale University

Oberlin Conservatory Hartt School St. Michaels College of Wooster University of Southern Maine

The Studio Band, an afterschool rock and contemporary music ensemble, has played at clubs in Portland and for screaming audiences of hundreds at schools and arenas throughout Maine.

Advanced music students have the opportunity to perform recitals: excellent preparation for the kind of recitals they will give in college as music students.

Community involvement: We believe that music is one of the best ways to bring a community together, so we get out into the local community, caroling at the holidays, participating in fundraising concerts for “Make a Wish” and other charities, hosting community music events at the school, playing out in the local community, and supporting other local musicians.

We coordinate interdisciplinary opportunities for music students to work with other subjects. One example: we recently put on a middle school concert that was based around a Japanese theme. Students created Japanese-style artwork in art class, learned Japanese music in their regular ensembles, played in a specially created Taiko-drumming ensemble in costume, and put on a parade based on a festival in Northern Japan. The entire performance was filmed and sent to Japan, where school officials and students could watch it.

Every few years we host the Pan New England Steelband Festival, when dozens of steelbands from around New England come to NYA to perform in front of crowds that number in the hundreds. Steel Industry, the NYA steelband, has played for crowds throughout New England.

NYA student musicians are supported by their fellow students. When we have student recitals, crowds listen respectfully. When the rock band plays, we have screaming, adoring crowds (and even a little crowd-surfing).

What does a green music department look like? For now it means that we do the little things: recycle everything possible, buy from local businesses whenever possible, turn off the lights whenever we leave a room. In the future we hope that it will include more.