ENSEMBLE HANDBOOK EMPIRE STATE YOUTH ORCHESTRA ETIENNE ABELIN, MUSIC DIRECTOR 2024-2025 ESYO Ensemble Handbook 1
WELCOME TO THE 2024-2025 ESYO SEASON! We look forward to sounding together with you at in-person rehearsals and performances around the Capital Region. We invite you to dive in, challenge yourself, make new friends, and enjoy some “serious fun” with your fellow musicians. Now that you have accepted your position in an ESYO Ensemble, please take time to read this handbook and locate important information about your membership in ESYO. By accepting your placement in an ESYO Ensemble, you agree to do your best, come to rehearsals prepared, and adhere to ESYO’s Code of Conduct and Attendance Policy. If you have any questions not answered in this handbook, please contact your orchestra or ensemble manager for assistance. You may also email Sue Lascoe, Operations Director, at slascoe@esyo.org. Here’s to a great season for making music with friends. Rebecca Calos Executive Director Heather Chan Board Chair Etienne Abelin Music Director 2 2024-2025 ESYO Ensemble Handbook
Overview................................................................................................. 4 Faculty & Staff ...................................................................................... 6 Program Guide........................................................................................ 9 Member Expectations & Policies......................................................... 12 Code of Conduct...................................................................................... 14 School Music Participation.................................................................... 17 Concert Dress Code............................................................................17-18 Tuition Rates, Payment Plans, & Tuition Assistance.........................20 Contacts & Communication .................................................................. 3 2 Rehearsal & Concert Schedules .......................................................... 7 2 Concert Tickets & Special Offers ........................................................ 28 Fundraising Expectations....................................................................... 31 Volunteering ............................................................................................. 32 2024-2025 ESYO Ensemble Handbook 3
ESYO has provided outstanding music training and performance opportunities for young musicians from across New York’s Capital Region and Western New England since 1979. Beginning with a single orchestra nearly forty years ago, ESYO has grown to include 14 performing ensembles, a youth chorale, and a free, community-based music program called CHIME. ESYO players are afforded exceptional learning opportunities with elite musicians, renowned conductors and passionate Teaching Artists. ESYO’s performing ensembles engage in over 600 hours of rehearsal per season and, combined, offer more than 30 public performances each year. ESYO has received three prestigious awards for its adventurous programming from the American Society of Composers, Artists, and Publishers (ASCAP) and has had 8 international tours, including participation in the World Association for Symphonic Band Ensembles Festival in Hungary in 2018, and a tour to Asia sparked by an invitation to perform at the 2012 World Expo in South Korea. MISSION ESYO challenges and inspires young people to achieve excellence through music in a rigorous learning environment leading to high-level performance opportunities. VISION ESYO aspires to create tangible and lasting benefits for our community. Together we strive to: • Facilitate skill development for the 21st century • Nourish a new generation of leaders in the arts and society • Inspire lifelong stewardship of our shared musical treasures • Create a sustainable model to expand access to music education • Promote the use of music as an agent of social change SHARED VALUES Our shared values drive our mission and help us realize our vision. We have a passion for: • Musical excellence as a joyful pursuit and a pathway to personal growth • Access to enriched musical education and experiences • Service to youth as our primary customers • Collaboration among our musicians and ensembles, with our supporting schools and community partners • Community as an opportunity to engage, to grow and to give back. 4 2024-2025 ESYO Ensemble Handbook
ESYO is committed to creating a culture of inclusivity in all our spaces whether we are in a rehearsal, performance, or online. In April 2020, ESYO established a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion task force made up of young musicians, staff, and board members to ignite our commitment and journey towards ensuring ESYO is a place where all voices are heard, everyone feels welcomed, and our diversity is celebrated. We are committed to providing a safe and supportive environment regardless of able-ness, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, cultural background, national origin, citizenship, faith, ideology, or income. Throughout the season, ESYO members and stakeholders will be presented with opportunities to engage in conversations and workshops around our commitment to inclusivity. 2024-2025 COVID VACCINE POLICY ESYO members will no longer be subject to a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for the 2024-2025 season. Masks and vaccination against COVID-19 are still strongly recommended as the best protection against illness and the spread of infection. 2024-2025 ESYO Ensemble Handbook 5
2024-2025 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Heather Chan Board Chair Chris Shiley Vice Chair Dee Adkins Treasurer Jon Lepel Secretary Rajesh Ahuha Amy Anderson Brian Axford Robert Bengraff Vic Bernstein Katherine Hart Crain Randall Ellis Rob Hamilton Stefon Harris Andrew LaCoppola Peter Lauricella Missy Nigro Brian Quiara Justin Riccio Barry Richman Brian Sacawa Omar Williams 2024-2025 ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Rebecca Calos Executive Director Lisa Stulmaker Finance Director Sue Lascoe Operations Director and Repertory Orchestra Manager Andrea Restrepo Operations Assistant, Symphony Orchestra & String Orchestra Manager, and Librarian Heather-Liz Meglino Development Director Zoe Auerbach Young Leaders and CHIME Director David Bebe Associate Music Director of CHIME & Chamber Music Leah DeLira Marketing Manager 6 2024-2025 ESYO Ensemble Handbook Mary Rose Petrozola Membership & Communications Coordinator
Etienne Abelin Music Director & Symphony Orchestra Joseph Gumpper String Orchestra Leo Milman Concertino Strings Alex Atchley Concertino Percussion Ensemble Mark Foster Youth Percussion Ensemble Dr. Rob Sanderl Youth Percussion Ensemble Genoveffe Vitale Repertory Percussion Ensemble Dr. Robert Hansbrough Wind Orchestra David Beck ESYO Repertory Orchestra Julie Taylor Concertino Wind Choir Scott Hopkins Concertino Brass Choir Dr. Michael Lister Melodies Of Christmas Chorale TBA Repertory Jazz Orchestra Jim Iacketta Chamber Percussion Ensemble Dr. Peter Bellino Youth Jazz Orchestra David Bebe CHIME Orchestra 2024-2025 ESYO Ensemble Handbook 7
ESYO CHIME, in partnership with the Schenectady City School District, invites all young musicians to pursue their musical talents through daily music instruction and outstanding music ensembles led by highly trained teaching artists. ESYO’S TEAM OF TEACHING ARTISTS INCLUDES PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS, SKILLED MUSIC EDUCATORS, AND ESYO ALUMNI committed to empowering all youth to joyfully pursue musical excellence within a supportive and inspiring environment. Learn more about ESYO’s team of qualified Teaching Artists at esyo.org/about/our-team. 8 2024-2025 ESYO Ensemble Handbook
ESYO ENSEMBLES ESYO’s progressive program supports students in elementary through high school, growing with them as they expand their musical and personal capabilities. To learn more about each ensemble, visit esyo.org/programs/orchestras-ensembles. Progression of Ensemble Participation by Skill Level Area Strings Concertino Strings String Orchestra Woodwind and Brass Concertino Winds & Brass Wind Orchestra Percussion Jazz Chamber Percussion Ensemble Concertino Percussion Repertory Jazz Orchestra Voice Repertory Orchestra Symphony Orchestra Repertory Orchestra, Wind Orchestra Repertory Orchestra, Wind Orchestra, Repertory Percussion Orchestra Symphony Orchestra, Wind Orchestra Symphony Orchestra, Wind Orchestra, Repertory Percussion Orchestra Youth Jazz Orchestra Melodies Chorale ESYO CHIME CHIME (Creating Harmony Inspiring Musical Excellence) is ESYO’s free after school music program that operates in partnership with the Schenectady City School District to address fundamental inequities preventing universal access to high-level music opportunities. CHIME empowers youth to develop a strong sense of personal identity and community through ensemble-based music instruction. Central to CHIME is the conviction that access to outstanding musical ensembles, cultivated through an immersive, open and inspiring approach, is transformative and ought to be available to all. Instrumental offerings, grade levels served and hours vary by location. 2024-2025 ESYO Ensemble Handbook 9
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