All WIPA summer camps, programs, and offices will be closed on Monday, July 5 in observance of Independence Day.
PMP Featured
Juneteenth
All WIPA administrative offices and programs are closed in observance of Juneteenth.
Memorial Day
All Wharton Arts administrative offices and programs will be closed in observance of Memorial Day.
PMP Virtual Concert: A Springtime Storybook
CLICK HERE TO WATCH ONLINE • PREMIERING FRIDAY, MAY 28 @ 5 PM EDT
The Paterson Music Project presents a virtual spring concert, A Springtime Storybook, on Friday, May 28 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Featuring PMP string, band, ukulele, and pre-orchestra students and written and narrated by PMP Youth Leaders, the audience is invited to join the performers on an adventure weaving together storytelling and music. This free, immersive performance will be fun for the whole family.
NJYS Youth Symphony & Nokia Bell Labs Project
The New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS), a program of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts, will livestream a free concert from the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown on Saturday, May 15 at 7:00 p.m. on WhartonArts.tv. Featuring the NJYS Youth Symphony led by Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Helen H. Cha-Pyo and with the support of the League of American Orchestras’ Futures Fund, NJYS will partner with Nokia Bell Labs to experiment with two-way communication at the concert. C4C, a technology that turns audience members’ phones into speakers, will enable concertgoers to become part of the performance.
Developed by Nokia’s Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) lab, C4C allows the performers to sense the response of the audience in real time and activate sounds throughout the audience in synchrony with the main performance. The solution presents a new form of sonic immersion that enables deeper connection between the audience and the performers. E.A.T. is a pioneering initiative that brings together the worlds of engineering, science, and the arts to humanize technology.
As part of the Futures Fund’s partnership with Nokia Bell Labs, NJYS commissioned two composers, Patricio Molina and Mesia Austin, to write COVID-friendly small ensemble works to be premiered at the May 15 concert. In addition to Homage to Kahlil Gibran and Homage to Nicarno Parra by Molina and Spiral by Austin, the concert will feature works by Gabrieli, Bach, Beethoven, and Karel Husa.
For more information about the livestream concert, call (908) 771-5544 or email info@njys.org.
Download the long-form program here: 15 May YS Nokia Long Program
Wharton Arts Webinar: A Conversation with Roberto Diaz
Wharton Arts Presents Artistic Director Helen H. Cha-Pyo’s Conversation with Roberto Diaz, CEO and President of the Curtis Institute of Music
Monday, May 3 ⋅ 7:00-8:00 p.m. EST
CLICK HERE to register for this FREE event!
The webinar is an exploration of personal values that help lead to success, as well as navigating the future of classical music, with acclaimed violist and GRAMMY Award Winner Diaz.
ABOUT ROBERTO DIAZ
A violist of international reputation, Roberto Díaz is president and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music, following in the footsteps of renowned soloist/directors such as Josef Hofmann, Efrem Zimbalist, and Rudolf Serkin.
As a soloist, Díaz collaborates with leading conductors of our time on stages throughout the world. He has also worked directly with important 20th- and 21st-century composers, including Krzysztof Penderecki—whose viola concerto he has performed numerous times with the composer on the podium, and whose double concerto he premiered in the United States—as well as Edison Denisov, Jennifer Higdon, Ricardo Lorenz, and Roberto Sierra.
A frequent recitalist, Díaz enjoys collaborating with young musicians, bringing a fresh approach to the repertoire and providing invaluable opportunities to artists at the beginning of their careers. In addition to performing with major string quartets and pianists in chamber music series and festivals worldwide, he is a member of the Díaz Trio. His recordings include a Grammy-winning performance of the Jennifer Higdon Viola Concerto, a Grammy-nominated disc of viola transcriptions by William Primrose for Naxos, and releases on the Artek, Bridge Records, Dorian, Nimbus, and New World labels.
In addition to his decade-long tenure as principal viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Díaz was also principal viola of the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovich, and was a member of the Boston Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music, where he continues to serve on the faculty, holding the James and Betty Matarese Chair in Viola Studies and the Nina von Maltzahn President’s Chair. Díaz plays the ex-Primrose Amati viola.