Towson High Graduate Selected For National Youth Orchestra

From BCPS: Bassoonist Vincent Igusa of Towson High School is among the 119 outstanding musicians selected for the seventh annual National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA).

Igusa was also selected in 2018 and toured Asia with the NYO-USA last summer. In 2016, he participated in NYO2, a program for talented musicians, ages 14 – 17, interested in the classical orchestral field.

“Vincent has been a pleasure to work with,” said David Rhen, Towson High's music department chair. “He is such an accomplished musician at such a young age.”

Igusa, a 2019 graduate of Towson High, will attend Rice University in the fall, where he plans to major in bassoon performance and minor in computer science or mathematics. A member of the Peabody Youth Orchestra, he was a 2019 National YoungArts finalist in classical music, received an honorable mention in the 2018 National YoungArts Classical Music discipline, and received third place at the 2018 Music Teacher's National Association Senior Woodwind Competition, national division. He has qualified for BCPS and Maryland All-State music events and ensembles dating back to his middle school years.

In Affinity magazine earlier this year, Igusa was quoted as saying, “Creativity should be one of the most valued and encouraged traits, especially in young children. If people were taught to be more creative, we would have more art, more innovation, and more independent thought.”

NYO-USA was created by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute and recognizes the finest young musicians from across the nation, ages 16 - 19. They are selected through a competitive and comprehensive audition process. This year's orchestra will include young musicians from 33 U.S. states.

In July, Igusa and the other NYO-USA members will spend three weeks in a training residency on the campus of Purchase College, SUNY, working with principal players from some of the finest professional orchestras. The faculty will oversee rehearsals during the orchestra's residency in Purchase and will also lead master classes, chamber music readings, and other seminars on essential music skills, all leading up to the launch of NYO-USA's annual tour.

Following an intensive three-week training residency at Purchase College, SUNY, world-renowned conductor Sir Antonio Pappano will lead NYO-USA at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts on Thursday, August 1 at 8:00 p.m., followed by the orchestra's annual Carnegie Hall concert on Saturday, August 3 at 8:00 p.m., to be heard by music lovers worldwide via the Carnegie Hall Live broadcast and digital series, created in partnership with WQXR. The program includes Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie, and Berlioz's Les nuits d'été featuring renowned mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard.

The orchestra then departs to Europe for a tour of some of the continent's music capitals, beginning with a performance in Berlin featuring mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, and continuing with concerts in Great Britain, Amsterdam, and Germany featuring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. Select concerts feature Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 in place of Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie, giving the young musicians the rare opportunity to perform two ambitious symphonies. Two apprentice composers will also compose new works for the orchestra, to be premiered during the tour.

"The musicians who make up NYO-USA's 2019 roster are among the very best players in the nation," said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall's executive and artistic director. "This promises to be an unforgettable summer of new discoveries for them. These superb young players will have the opportunity to serve as musical ambassadors for their country, connecting with audiences around the world as they present extraordinary performances under the baton of conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, collaborating with three wonderful soloists.