Artist Stories Series
The New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), and the New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS), are pleased to co-host an Artist Stories Series, a series of FREE weekly one-hour virtual conversations exploring the importance of equity, inclusion, and representation in the classical music, jazz, and Broadway world.
Featured guest speakers include Toyin Spellman-Diaz, Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Jeff Scott, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Sean C. Jones, and Weston Sprott discussing what it means to navigate a professional music career. In addition to the sharing of personal experiences, the artists will have the opportunity to impart their insights into needed actions to reinforce accountability and pursue responsive outcomes in American orchestras, music education, and the music industry.
Attendees are encouraged to submit questions for the artists in advance, to be answered during a Q&A portion of each session. The six-week webinar series is free and open to the public. Each weekly webinar will be hosted on Zoom and livestreamed via YouTube on Wednesday evenings, July 8-August 12, from 7-8pm EST.
Toyin Spellman-Diaz
Register
July 8, 2020
7:00 – 8:00 PM (EST)
Oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz is an original member of Imani Winds and hailed by the Washington Post for her “smooth, controlled tone and excellent technique.”
Register for the Zoom Webinar here.
View the YouTube livestream here.
Kelly Hall-Tompkins
Register
July 15, 2020
7:00 – 8:00 PM (EST)
Acclaimed by the New York Times as “the versatile violinist who makes the music come alive”, and featured in the National Museum of African American History and Culture, violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins is trailblazing an innovative, creative and entrepreneurial career as a soloist and chamber musician.
Register for the Zoom Webinar here.
View the YouTube livestream here.
Jeff Scott
Register
July 22, 2020
7:00 – 8:00 PM (EST)
Jeff Scott is the French hornist in the internationally-acclaimed wind quintet Imani Winds and a faculty member of Montclair State University and Oberlin College.
Register for the Zoom Webinar here.
View the YouTube livestream here.
Carmen Ruby Floyd
Register
July 29, 2020
7:00 – 8:00 PM (EST)
Singer and actor Carmen Ruby Floyd is known for her roles on Broadway (Avenue Q, Hello Dolly!), and television (Orange is the New Black, Person of Interest).
Register for the Zoom Webinar here.
View the YouTube livestream here.
Sean C. Jones
Register
August 5, 2020
7:00 – 8:00 PM (EST)
An internationally-recognized educator, trumpeter Sean C. Jones was recently named the Richard and Elizabeth Case Chair of Jazz at Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute in Baltimore.
Register for the Zoom Webinar here.
View the YouTube livestream here.
Weston Sprott
Register
August 12, 2020
7:00 – 8:00 PM (EST)
Weston Sprott is a Metropolitan Opera Orchestra trombonist and Dean of the Preparatory Division at The Juilliard School, leading Juilliard Pre-College and the Music Advancement Program.
Register for the Zoom Webinar here.
View the YouTube livestream here.