(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- The Summer String Festival in Englewood collaborated with the Paterson Music Project. Through scholarships from The Elisabeth Morrow School, four students, including one violinist and three cellists aged 10-14, were able to participate in the festival. Terrence Thornhill, a faculty member of the Summer String Festival, also serves as a conductor for the PMP concert orchestra and symphony orchestra.
The students had the unique opportunity to receive music instruction from Mark Wood, an Emmy Award-winning producer and composer. Wood is a well-known recording artist, performer, and music education advocate, having been dubbed "The Eddie Van Halen of the Violin World" by PBS. With over four decades of experience, he has made significant contributions to the orchestra industry, particularly as the original string master of the internationally acclaimed Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Wood also composes original music for film and television, and tours with his band, The Mark Wood Experience, alongside vocalist Laura Kaye.
This year's Summer String Festival welcomed back Tito Muñoz, an alumnus of the festival and the artistic partner and past conductor of the Phoenix Symphony. Muñoz returned as a guest conductor to work with students, providing his expertise and unique inspiration for creating sophisticated music.
The Paterson Music Project (PMP) was established in 2013 and offers tuition-free afterschool music programs to over 300 students in Paterson, N.J. Through intensive and high-quality music education, PMP aims to empower students, develop life skills, and create a sense of belonging. Amelia Gold, the Founding Artistic Director of the Summer String Festival, expressed the shared belief in the transformative power of music through their collaboration with the Paterson Music Project. She highlighted that their programs are designed to ignite passion, nurture artistry, and cultivate a lifelong love of music.
Shanna Lin, director of the Paterson Music Project, expressed gratitude for the opportunity provided to their students at the EMS Summer String Festival. She mentioned that the warm and inviting environment created by Ms. Gold and the EMS staff allowed their students to thrive and grow musically in a joyful manner.
The Elisabeth Morrow School Summer String Festival, a music program for deeply engaged and experienced young violin, viola, and cello students, took place August 5–9, 2024, on the school’s 14-acre campus. The program, for students ages 4 through 14, combines an intense, pre-professional music experience with the fun of camp and culminates with a dynamic concert where students shine, performing with the orchestras they've worked with throughout the week. Founding Artistic Director Amelia Gold (the associate head of school and director of the arts at The Elisabeth Morrow School) started the festival because most summer music programs considered students younger than 12 too young for intensive training.
The first Summer String Festival had 78 students; now, in its 29th year, the competitive program accepts more than 150 students each summer. Alumni have gone on to become world-renowned musicians — Kevin Lin, Katherine Kobylarz, Lindy Tsai, Caleb van der Swaagh — as well as respected physicians, attorneys, educators, artists, activists, and leaders in technology. This year, Summer String Festival alumnus Tito Muñoz, artistic partner and past conductor of the Phoenix Symphony, returned as a guest conductor to help fine-tune the orchestras and add his special brand of inspiration for sophisticated music making.
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