White House Gig for YOBC Students

During the 2012 holiday season, three YOBC students got the ultimate gig -- at the White House in Washington, DC. Michael D’Amico (viola, Symphony Orchestra), Isabella D’Amico (viola, Philharmonia), and Cassie Mulcahy (violin, Symphony Orchestra) were part of a select group of musicians from Bucks County who had the honor of playing in the White House Grand Foyer at a holiday open house for lawmakers, staff, dignitaries, friends, and media. Their private teacher, Susan Ward, received an invitation in November for the 21 students and 4 professionals to perform. Congratulations to all the talented musicians who took part in this exciting performance.

YOBC Students Selected for All-Eastern Conference

YOBC celebrates three of our current students who have been selected to attend the 2013 All-Eastern Conference of the National Association for Music Education. The biennial conference will take place this year in Hartford, CT from April 4-7. Congratulations to clarinetist Daniel Gift and flutist Nick Hall of YOBC's Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. Both Daniel and Nick will play in the All-Eastern Honors Band, just one of five ensembles that are an important part of the conference. Sara Dornblaser - who returns to YOBC this spring - was selected for the Honors Symphony Orchestra on French horn. The ensembles are made up of selected high school students who are recommended by their state presidents.

The All-Eastern Band and Orchestra will each have about 150 member made up of students from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Washington, DC, as well as several from the European Union. Students must have been in the state's All-State Festival and a member of their school music ensemble. They receive an endoresement from their school's principal as well as their music ensemble director who is a member of NAfME. State presidents compile ranked lists of of their state's student applicants and the All-Eastern General Chair organizes the lists for an Ensembles Selection Committee which meets in October to select students and finalize the lists.

Congratulations are also in order for former YOBC student Natalya Bondarchuk (cello) and who was selected to participate in the All-Eastern Festival in the Honors Symphony Orchestra.

Prestigious Honor for YOBC Clarinetist

Daniel Gift, a clarinetist in YOBC's Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra, has been selected as a member of the Army All-American Marching Band and will play at halftime of the 13th annual U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The game is generally considered the premier high school all-star football game in the country. Daniel is one of 125 students selected by audition for the honor. Read more here. CONGRATULATIONS DANIEL!

BCMEA Music Festival 2012

Many YOBC Students Took Part in the 2012 BCMEA Music Festival

This year the Bucks County Music Educators Association held its 61st annual Bucks County Music Festival for middle school and high school students from all over Bucks County. BCMEA's goal is to to enhance the availability of information and increase the awareness and support of music education in Bucks County, PA. Auditions for the BCMEA music festival take place in January of each year. This year's three-day festival was hosted by the Central Bucks School District March 1-3, and concluded with concerts by the All-Bucks County High School Band, Middle School Band, Orchestra, and choirs on Saturday, March 3.

YOBC was well represented at the festival with 46 of our students taking part. Congratulations to the following students for their successful auditions:

All-Bucks County Middle School Band:

Melissa Lu, flute; Alaina O’Neill, flute; Jonathan Lewis, oboe; Dorothy Zhao, alto saxophone; Adam Victor, trumpet; Stephen Hopkins, French horn; Evan Kownurko, trombone; Christina Chen, baritone; Samanthan Lawson, timpani

All-Bucks County High-School Band:

Sarah Gift, flute; Jessica Bouloutian, flute; Laura Reinert, flute; Lindsey Buttel, flute; Daniel Gift, clarinet; Zach Sabol, clarinet; Benji Young, bassoon; Vincent Montoya-Armanios, alto saxophone; Andrew King, trumpet; Stephanie Rue, French horn

All-Bucks County Orchestra:

Min Son, violin; Jessica Du, violin; Andrea Detlefson, violin; Hannah Jordan, violin; Gillis Wang, violin; Ritesh Misra, violin; Isabel Wingert, violin; David Kim, violin; Maggy Simon, violin; Mary Kate Durnan, violin; Grace Wu, violin; Kathryn Wang, violin; Michael Lu, violin; Timothy Gehrsitz, violin; Lisa Carpenter, viola; Rachel Jones, cello; Sam Present, cello; Beth Vandersall, cello; Liz Kwak, cello; Daniel Lo, cello; Abigail Bruzas, cello; Zach Van Rijn, cello; Madison Peschen, cello; Ethan Cook, cello; Josh Carey, bass