Press Release: Uptown Music Collective students once again to collaborate with Williamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra 

What:  Susquehanna University Summer Orchestra Festival

Where: Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove PA

When: July 21^st-23^rd 2011

Contact: Jared Mondell, jared@uptownmusic.org, (570) 329 0888

The Uptown Music Collective, the area’s premier 501(c) non-profit school of music, willbe participating in this year’s Susquehanna University Summer Orchestra Festival in partnership with the Williamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra.  The Uptown Music Collective will send eight students to participate in the three-day festival to be held July 21st-23rd. The weekend will culminate with a performance on Saturday the 23rd at 3pm at Central Oak Heights in West Milton, Pa. The music will be a revue of orchestral rock songs, as well as classics and will be conducted by Dr. Jennifer Sacher-Wiley.

This collaboration is a result of the success of January's collaborative performance between the students of the Uptown Music Collective and the Williamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra.  The Orchestral Rock Project was a performance of orchestral rock classics by the Beatles, the Moody Blues and others and featured student musicians from the Collective as well as a full orchestra of student musicians from the WSYO.  Performed at the Community ArtsCenter to great community support, the performance marked the beginning of what will hopefully be a long and exciting collaboration between the Collective and the WSYO.

"The concert this past January was an exciting event for both of our groups and we are looking forward to a promising future of collaborations between our two youth oriented groups" said UMC executive director Dave Brumbaugh. “This summer festival is an opportunity for us to work out some of the details in how our two organizations will move forward together in the future and we are overjoyed at the enthusiasm that Dr. Wiley and her students have showed for the project.”

Participating students from the Uptown Music Collective include bassist Levi Stover, pianist Tess Clutter, guitarists Tyler Quigley and Shawn Chism, drummer A.J Robbins, and singers Tess Marshall, Shannon Cantor and Gabe Stillman. Uptown Music Collective student participation is sponsored by the Fairfield Auto Group. The concert will feature pieces performed at The Orchestral Rock Project concert in January of 2011 and will also debut two new arrangements by arranger and orchestrator Rob Byham.

Established in April of 2000, the Uptown Music Collective has developed a reputation as the premier source of music education in the area. Offering private lessons at all levels on guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals, as well as classes and workshops in music theory, songwriting, and styles such as the Blues, Jazz, Classical and Rock. The primary age range of the Collective is 10 – 18 yrs old, but is open to all ages and levels. Along with private lessons, the UMC offers a myriad of programs including its flagship Performance Program. This program educates students about the ins and outs of major and minor performances, including direction, production, preparation and technical aspects of the performances. The program also brings outstanding student run performances to the area, including most recently “The Unforgettable Fire: A tribute to U2 and Irish Rock” and “Rhythm Nation: A Live Music and Dance Tribute to 80’s Music Videos”, a collaboration with the Melissa Augustine Dance Academy.

 For more information about the Williamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra please visithttp://www.williamsportsymphony.org.