Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) is the
Los Angeles Philharmonic's initiative to establish
youth orchestra
A youth orchestra is an orchestra made of young musicians, typically ranging from pre-teens or teenagers to those of conservatory age. Depending on the age range and selectiveness, they may serve different purposes. Orchestras for young stude ...
programs in underprivileged communities throughout Los Angeles. Modeled on Venezuela's
El Sistema
El Sistema (which translates to The System) is a publicly financed, voluntary sector, music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu.Lesniak It later adopted the motto "M ...
,
a program which brings classical music education to children from low-income communities, YOLA provides free instruments, music training, and academic support to nearly 800 students age 6-18. A "social project first and artistic project second", 100% of YOLA's 2016 graduating class completed high school, and 90% went on to college.
History
Inspired by the Los Angeles Philharmonic's music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel's experience with Venezuela's El Sistema youth orchestra movement, the LA Phil founded YOLA in 2007. The program was first established at EXPO Center in the mainly Latino and African American community of
South Central Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown.
It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...
.
Created in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and the
Harmony Project, it included 80 students.
Dudamel began working with YOLA at EXPO in 2008, and in 2009 he inaugurated his tenure at the LA Phil wearing a "Youth Orchestra Los Angeles" t-shirt. The first official downbeat of Dudamel's Los Angeles career was a performance of "
Ode to Joy
"Ode to Joy" (German language, German: , literally "To heJoy") is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in ''Thalia (magazine), Thalia''. A slightl ...
" with YOLA at the
Hollywood Bowl.
Juan Felipe Molano became the conductor of YOLA in 2014 after an international search and audition by the LA Phil. The music and artistic Director of the
Yucatan Symphony Orchestra for five years, he had previously conducted the Colombian Youth Philharmonic and was the national director of orchestras for
Batuta Colombian System of Youth Orchestras (El Sistema – Colombia).
From 2009 until 2014, YOLA was conducted by Bruce Anthony Kiesling.
YOLA at 10
As of its tenth anniversary in 2017, nearly 800 students participated in YOLA annually. In addition to YOLA at EXPO Center, it includes YOLA at HOLA in LA's
Rampart District, a partnership between the LA Phil and the Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) and YOLA at LACHSA, a partnership with the LA Phil and the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Annually, YOLA provides more than 600 hours of music instruction and more than 120 residency hours with members of the LA Phil as well as programming which includes leadership camps, college prep, and skills training for the program's most advanced students.
YOLA has performed with conductors including
Simon Rattle,
David Robertson,
Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop ( mɛər.ɪn ˈæːl.sɑːp born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate ...
,
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (born Mirga Gražinytė, 2 April 1986 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian conductor. She is currently musical director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO).
Biography Early years and education
Gražinytė-Tyla was ...
and
Thomas Wilkins and worked with
Journey
Journey or journeying may refer to:
* Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations
** Day's journey, a measurement of distance
** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road
Animals
* Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...
,
Stevie Wonder,
Juanes,
Gloria Estefan,
Gwen Stefani, and
Hilary Hahn
Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. She has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of contemporary classical music, and several ...
.
In addition to the Hollywood Bowl, YOLA performances have taken place at
Walt Disney Concert Hall,
The Barbican in London,
Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and
Kresge Auditorium
Kresge Auditorium (MIT Building W16) is an auditorium structure at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located at 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was designed by the Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, with g ...
at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
.
In 2016, alongside
Beyoncé and
Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...
, 50 YOLA students played the halftime show at the
Super Bowl with
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...
for an audience of 111.9 million viewers. It performed at the 2016 Ojai Music Festival, curated by
Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where ...
, and presented the world premiere of a commissioned work by composer
Tania León
Tania León (born May 14, 1943) is a Cuban-born American composer of both large scale and chamber works. She is also renowned as a conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations.
Early years and education
She was born Tania Justina Leó ...
with guest artists the International Contemporary Ensemble. That same year, 80 of YOLA's most advanced students toured for the first time, performing in Los Angeles, Visalia, Fresno, and Oakland, where they were conducted by Dudamel.
The Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center at Inglewood
In August 2018 YOLA announced its $14.5 million plan for the construction of its first dedicated facility, the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center at Inglewood. Groundbreaking took place in the spring of 2019. Inaugurated in 2021, the concert hall is housed in a former
Security Pacific Bank
Security Pacific National Bank (SPNB) was a large U.S. bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was acquired by Bank of America in 1992.
History
On September 1, 1868, Hellman, Temple and Co. opened their first bank branch in Los ...
branch which was redesigned by
Frank Gehry, who also designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall, in collaboration with the Los Angeles-based Chait & Company. The Disney Hall's acoustician,
Yasuhisa Toyota
(born 1952) is a Japanese acoustician, who has been chief acoustician for over 50 projects worldwide, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Bard College Performing Arts Center in New York, the Elbphilharmonie in H ...
, also worked on the YOLA Center. In addition to the nearly main hall for up to 272 spectators,
[Carolina A. Miranda (12 August 2021)]
Column: From bank to Burger King to handsome Frank Gehry-designed concert hall
''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''. the new center includes a choir room, an ensemble room and a practice studio, with all spaces totaling about 25,000 square feet.
References
External links
Official website at LA PhilEl Sistema USA YOLA Preps for Pepsi 50 Halftime Show Performance
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American youth orchestras
Musical groups established in 2007
Organizations based in Los Angeles
Youth organizations based in California