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Don't forget to change your clocks this weekend! Daylight savings time ends this Sunday, 11/1, at 2am. Be sure to adjust your clocks accordingly.

This year, we are having an SDYS costume contest! A poll will be created on band.us and you will be able to vote for your favorite costume. The poll will open 11/1 at 7pm.

The overall winner will get an Amazon gift card!

To participate in the contest, you will have to take a picture of yourself in costume anytime between now and 11/1. Submit your picture here.

Voting opens on 11/1 at 7pm on band.us. The winners will be announced on 11/3!

All SDYS students are required to attend our upcoming virtual conference for students, parents, and teachers across the county! We are excited to host an event that will feature musicians from the San Diego Symphony, among other guests from our community and beyond.

The Season's First Performance of our SDYS-wide New World Symphony arrangement will begin right at 2:45pm. It will be a festive conclusion to an afternoon of learning. Click here for more information.

Dr. Carter will be running a small, 40-person maximum session at the SDYS virtual conference. Her session will be about motivation to practice during these times, expectations on musicians, influences, and how the pandemic affects musicians specifically. The session will be held from 2:00pm-2:45pm.

Dr. Carter holds a PhD in performance psychology and is a woodwind resident at Manhattan School of Music in NYC. Students in the Showcase and Ovation level are highly encouraged to attend Dr. Carter's session.

In preparation for the season's first performance, all SDYS ensembles are recording an arrangement of the theme from Dvořák's New World Symphony (Symphony No. 9). Last week, it was mentioned that New World Symphony was influenced by folk songs from Native Americans and African Americans. Here's a more in depth look on that:

American classical music of the 19th century was in its infancy and very similar to German classical music, so when Dvořák was the music director at the National Conservatory in NYC, his music assistant introduced him to uniquely American music: African American Spirituals. Dvořák said "the future of this country must be founded upon what are called [African American] melodies. This must be the real foundation of any serious and original school of composition to be developed in the United States."

Though Dvořák heard Native American and African American music, he did not copy their melodies in the New World Symphony, but instead embodied the particular tonality of their music to create a subject theme and combined it with Western symphonic color, rhythms, and counterpoint. Dvořák associated the particular tonality of both Spirituals and Native American music with “a scale, caused by the absence of the fourth and seventh, or leading tone.” This is known as an anhemitonic pentatonic scale. Dvořák also used syncopated rhythms recreate the feeling of Spiritual music.

A similar theme to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is found in the second theme of the first movement, although not directly quoted. The famous Largo section (image below) is a reference to the Native dance of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 'The Song of Hiawatha' (1855), but interestingly, the same theme has been so closely associated with African American music, that it inspired the well known Spiritual, Goin’ Home.

Dvořák was met with criticism for his compositions and statements. America was struggling with its musical identity and Dvořák, who was creating American music, was not American. There are still debates to this day about whether the New World Symphony is American, Czech, or neither, but regardless, the piece is an important part of music history that has influenced American classical music.

Works consulted: Michael Beckerman, Joseph Horowitz, NPR, New York Times, Benedict Taylor

Congratulations to all the students who participated in the concerto competition! Below are the finalists of the Ovation and Showcase level:

Ovation finals: Sunday, November 1, 2020, 5pm 

IMPORTANT LINKS FOR FALL 2020

SmartMusic: for those experiencing any confusion, please click here to see the user guide.

SoundTrap: for those experiencing any confusion, please click here to see the user guide.

Zoom Audio: Did you know that you can optimize input for musical instruments on Zoom? These settings remove any choppiness/cuts in the audio caused by echo-cancellation and allow for dynamics to not be altered by the software. Visit this website for step-by-step instructions or view the video below.

*Please note that you will need to update Zoom to the latest version.

Do you have an extra laptop, tablet, webcam, microphone, etc. that your family doesn't use anymore and wants to give to another family in need? If so, please fill out this Google form and we will set up a donation to families in need.

Are you in need of a device? Fill out this form here.

Staff continue to work from home and are available via email and phone. Please visit sdys.org/COVID-19 for any new information.

The events listed below are for information only. They are not sponsored or evaluated by, and do not have a connection with SDYS. Musicians are not allowed to exceed the maximum permitted absences according to the Musician's Handbook by participating in any events listed below.

This free 3-day event will host representatives from colleges, universities, conservatories and summer music festivals (new this year!) from across the country. As part of the virtual experience, online seminars and workshops will focus on Auditioning, Financial Aid, College Admission Process, Careers in Music, Pandemic Tools, and the Musician Beyond the Instrument.

Representatives from schools across the country will be live to talk to you in real time on Wednesday, November 11 from 1-5 PM EST. School profiles will be available 24 hours a day throughout the duration of the 3 day fair.

The Project 440 Virtual College Fair for Musicians will be using the platform Whova. More information about setting up their free and personal profile for the fair will be shared closer to the event!

In our Practice Buddy program, students are paired by age and level as practice accountability partners and penpals. Our students live all over the U.S., as well as in Austria, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, and Romania — and we’re continuing to expand worldwide.

Practice Buddies exchange 2 emails and 2 short practice videos every week. In emails, they’re encouraged to share details from their daily lives (about school; weekly activities; favorite games/movies/TV shows/books; etc). They also explain their practice goals for the week. For example: "This week, my teacher is having me focus on my rhythm. I'm practicing with a metronome and trying different rhythmic combinations. Do you ever practice like this?"

Practice Buddies support one another, re-digest their lesson material, and learn to give and receive constructive feedback. Students can practice foreign language skills when matched with a Practice Buddy from another country.

This exchange creates more engaged and curious students, especially now, when many children aren't able to partake in in-person music making. Children from different parts of the world build friendships based on mutual support and a love of music.

The Philadelphia International Music Festival (PIMF) is a summer music program directed by Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin of The Philadelphia Orchestra, offering student musicians from around the world the unique opportunity to spend up to four weeks immersed in music education and performance training with members of the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra.

Our outstanding summer music programs include: private lessons; master classes and faculty recitals with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra; daily orchestra, ensemble and chamber music rehearsals; daily course electives including: conducting, choir, composition, sight reading, music theory, ear training, fiddle music, and jazz ensemble; ample solo performance and competition opportunities; day trips to Ocean City, New Jersey (America’s Favorite Family Beach Resort), Philadelphia’s Mann Music Center for a Philadelphia Orchestra outdoor concert, and more.

There are six music camp options at PIMF: Symphony Orchestra, Solo Performance Preparation, Piano Studies, Chamber Music Intensive, College Audition Preparation, and Solo Intensive Programs at Music House International (a summer music program for college students and young professionals).