In this video montage, MYA Executive Director Allan Dennis describes Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Violist Charlie Pikler and the contributions he has made to MYA:

Charlie Pikler was recently honored with MYA’s Take Note Award, an award given to someone who has personally had a tremendous, special impact on students in MYA. The students in this video reflect on their experiences working with Charlie Pikler, principal violist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Pikler has devoted hours coaching chamber music, conducting viola sectionals, and founding and directing I’Solisti MYA, a chamber orchestra of musicians selected by audition chosen to perform a series of concerts in public schools and special venues during each season. Participating students are given scholarships and have the opportunity to solo with a movement from a concerto on this concert series.

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Charlie Pikler was recently honored with MYA’s Take Note Award, an award given to someone who has personally had a tremendous, special impact on students in MYA. The students in this video reflect on their experiences working with Charlie Pikler, principal violist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Pikler has devoted hours coaching chamber music, conducting viola sectionals, and founding and directing I’Solisti MYA, a chamber orchestra of musicians selected by audition chosen to perform a series of concerts in public schools and special venues during each season. Participating students are given scholarships and have the opportunity to solo with a movement from a concerto on this concert series.

Click to Download (right-click and choose ‘save as’…)

This great video was put together by member Autumn Chodorowski in 2008. It’s a fabulous video that showcases various students and faculty, and it gives you a great window into what makes MYA special!

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We’re featuring an interview today with Northwestern University trumpet professor Barbara Butler. Barbara has had an illustrious career as both a performer and teacher, performing with ensembles like the Grant Park Symphony and Chicago Symphony and serving as trumpet professor at the Eastman School of Music prior to her appointment at Northwestern.

In this interview, Barbara discusses her early years on the instrument, her performing career, experiences with the Midwest Young Artists program, and advice for younger musicians interested in pursuing a career in music. We also feature Barbara Butler and Charles Geyer with the MYA Early Music Ensemble performing the third movement from the Concerto for Two Trumpets by Antonio Vivaldi. Enjoy!

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This week’s audio-only podcast episode is a rebroadcast from last season and features an interview with the Linden Quartet (Sarah McElravy and Catherine Cosbey, violin, Eric Wong, viola, and Felix Umansky, cello) prior to their master class at Midwest Young Artists during the fall of 2009.

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Videos of this outstanding quartet performing can be found through the following links:

• Linden Quartet performs Bartok
• Linden Quartet Performs Haydn
• Linden Quartet performs Beethoven