New Programs and Faculty among highlights of upcoming 2013-14 Midwest Young Artists Season

 (Highwood, IL) Midwest Young Artists (MYA), the leading youth arts center in the Midwest, is pleased to announce a number of exciting additions to its award-winning offerings for the 2013-14 season. New programs and talented faculty will join the Highwood, Ill. based school, which reaches over 1,000 young people annually through its ensembles, classes, and community outreach activities.  Many of the ensembles hold public performances throughout the year in Chicago area venues such as Northwestern University, Chicago’s Symphony Center, and Ravinia Festival in Highland Park.

To accommodate an increasing demand for MYA’s Jazz programming, a new big band format ensemble has been added to the school’s already robust collection of jazz combos and full ensembles. Dubbed the Jazz Workshop, the new group caters to mostly high school aged jazz musicians looking for a more challenging experience to supplement their daily school program. The Jazz Workshop is directed by new MYA team member Joe Policastro, and meets on Sunday afternoons throughout the school year. Joe is an in-demand double bassist who has spent time performing in Europe and Chicago, and is also an active writer/arranger of music. Find out more about the MYA jazz program at: http://www.mya.org/programs/jazz.php.

New as well for MYA is a departure from the traditional classical fare from Mahler, Bach, and Shostakovich that the school is perhaps best known for; The MYA Rock Project! Directed by visionary musician and educator Mark Adamczyk, The MYA Rock Project distinguishes itself by not limiting students to “traditional” rock instruments and literature. Mark’s philosophy is quite simple in this regard: “Anyone and everyone can rock!” The program is open to all instruments, from cellos and French horns to electric guitars and vocals. There are four free exploration sessions being offered, one every Thursday in September in the run up to the first session of regular classes. Visit https://sites.google.com/a/mya.org/rock/home or call (847) 926-9898 for more info.

                Midwest Young Artists welcomes our new Voices Rising Choral director, Stevi Marks for the upcoming season. Stevi is a Golden Apple Award nominee, former CSO choir member, and choral director of National Grammy Signature school, Glenbrook South High School. She is excited to lead the MYA Voices Rising middle school ensemble into a new season of musical growth and exclusive performances. Voices Rising has again been invited by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to perform in the annual Welcome Yule! holiday concert series at Symphony Center in addition to several performances throughout the year at both Ravinia and Northwestern University’s Pick Staiger concert hall. Learn more about the MYA choral program at: http://www.mya.org/programs/choral.php.

                You can be a part of the excitement and attend various MYA concerts, events, and fundraisers throughout the season by visiting www.mya.org/events, and also by liking MYA on Facebook at their page: www.facebook.com/midwestyoungartists. Additionally, past and present MYA performances can be viewed and downloaded for free at the official MYA podcast site: wmya.fm. The organization enjoys spreading music to the community as much as it does enriching the lives of its students through the wonderful learning opportunities both academic and social that a music ensemble education affords.

About MYA: Midwest Young Artists is a top rated youth music ensemble program and represents some of the best young musicians in the country. The program offers exceptional training in jazz, choral, chamber and orchestral instruction. MYA currently reaches more than 1,000 students from 74 communities in the metropolitan Chicago area with eight youth orchestras, more than 65 chamber music ensembles, four choral groups, an all-inclusive jazz program, a rock program, early childhood education, and classes in music theory and history. Students have the opportunity to travel abroad and to perform in major venues throughout Chicago and around the world. MYA graduates are accepted at the most selective conservatories, universities and colleges in the country. www.mya.org