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Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras Joins 28 Orchestras Statewide in Celebrating Connecticut Orchestra Month This March 2025
https://www.ctinsider.com/marketplace/article/celebrate-connecticut-orchestra-month-march-20177676.php
CONNECTICUT (February 12, 2025) — Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras has joined 28 other orchestras to celebrate Connecticut Orchestra Month this March, a statewide initiative that highlights the joy and accessibility of live orchestral music.
Connecticut Orchestra Month spotlights the vital role that orchestras in Connecticut play in the state’s cultural life and in the arts education of students across the state. The 29 orchestras which are participating in Connecticut Orchestra Month illustrate the richness of Connecticut’s orchestral resources. Together, they represent:
- 2,400 musicians performing in orchestras across Connecticut.
- 282 performances taking place each year, reaching audiences of over 186,000 people.
- 350 community and educational events engaging 45,000 student participants, including students at 230 schools.
Audiences across Connecticut and in [insert orchestra town] can experience a wide variety of performances, from classic masterpieces and live film scores to diverse musical styles and exciting new works. With 29 participating orchestras offering captivating concerts and educational programs, the month promises something for everyone—whether it’s an inspiring evening out, a dazzling date night, or a fun-filled family outing.
As part of the musical celebration, Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras will present 3 concerts on March 2 at The Klein Auditorium in Bridgeport. First-time concertgoers and seasoned audience members alike are encouraged to attend and experience the power of live orchestral music. A bonus is to see and hear high quality, live music performed by kids. Visit https://gctyo.org/upcoming-events/ for more information and tickets.
“Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras is thrilled to participate in CT Orchestra Month and to highlight the importance of youth music education in the future of orchestral music,” said Beth Ulman, Executive Director of the Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras. “Our family-friendly concerts are inspirational and joyful, with 330 young musicians from all over the state performing traditional and contemporary classical and big band jazz music. We hope CT Orchestra Month is a catalyst for creating new audiences for orchestral music and inspiring young people to create music themselves.,” she said.
About Connecticut Orchestra Month
Connecticut Orchestra Month is a statewide celebration of the vibrant orchestral scene across Connecticut. With 29 participating orchestras performing 48 concerts, new and returning audience members can experience and enjoy concerts all month long. Learn more and view the concert calendar at CTOrchestraMonth.org.
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Announcing the Inna Berson Wetmore Excellence in Teaching Award
Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras is proud to announce the Inna Berson Wetmore Excellence in Teaching Award.
This award will be given annually to a teacher who demonstrates a commitment to the highest standards of music education, inspires young musicians, and makes meaningful and lasting connections to their students and our community through their teaching.
The inaugural award will go to Bernice Friedson. It recognizes a lifetime of exceptional teaching and achievement by a teacher who has touched the lives of countless students and made an indelible mark on the music community of Fairfield County and beyond.
Bernice Stochek Friedson, the daughter of violin maker Samuel A. Stochek, grew up in Manhattan, just a half block from Carnegie Hall. She gave her first recital at age 7 and subsequently performed solo recitals in the Tri-State area and on WQXR and WNYC. As a teenager, she played chamber music with members of the New York Philharmonic and NBC Symphony. She continued with conservatory study at the Juilliard and Mannes Schools of Music. At age 18, she auditioned for conductor Leopold Stokowski and was accepted into both the City Center Opera and RCA Recording Orchestras.
After moving to Connecticut, Bernice played with the Norwalk, New Haven and Stamford Symphonies, and also served as concertmaster for the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, Danbury Symphony, Ridgefield Symphony, Connecticut Ballet, and Connecticut Grand Opera. She was Concertmaster, Violin Soloist, and Assistant Conductor of the Connecticut Chamber Orchestra and founded the Connecticut String Quartet. She has also performed with the Half Mile Common Piano Trio and other regional ensembles.
Bernice was a founder of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Youth Orchestra (GBSYO) in 1961. GBSYO became GBYO and is now GCTYO. She was also a founding member of the Fairfield County String Teachers Association and a String and Ensemble specialist at the Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County. She maintains a studio in her Westport home, where she continues to teach violin and viola, coach chamber music groups, and prepare students for auditions. She plays exclusively on an instrument made by her father.
Inna Berson Wetmore spent her life dedicated to two things – her music and her family. A native of Belarus in the former USSR, Inna earned a B.A. in Music from Brest Music College and an M.A. in Music and Singing from the Pedagogical Institute in Minsk. She taught music in Minsk for twenty years before emigrating to the United States with her family.
After settling in Fairfield, Connecticut, Inna continued to teach piano students of all ages and levels from her home for over 30 years. In addition to teaching piano, she taught Music Theory for more than 10 years, first at Sacred Heart University, then at Housatonic Community College.
In her free time, Inna was also a composer, writing dozens of children’s songs, patriotic songs, celebratory songs, and instrumental pieces. She was a member of the Schubert Club of Fairfield County and ASCAP.
Inna was fiercely proud of the accomplishments of all of her students and sharing her love of music with them brought her enormous joy. She attended a number of GCTYO concerts and was amazed by the exemplary performances and talent of the student musicians. The Inna Berson Wetmore Excellence in Teaching Award was created to honor Inna’s memory as a music teacher and music lover.
Bernice will be presented with the $1,000 Inna Berson Wetmore Excellence in Teaching Award at GCTYO’s Fall Concert 3 on November 24, 2024 at The Klein in Bridgeport. We hope you will join us in celebrating her achievement. Music teachers always get a free ticket to GCTYO concerts!
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GREATER CONNECTICUT YOUTH ORCHESTRAS
STATEMENT OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras (GCTYO) is grounded in the conviction that music education is a vital part of the education and development of young people and of communities as a whole. Accordingly, our music programs develop and support young musicians with an understanding that they are also part of a much larger world that is both diverse and historically complex. With this larger global context in mind, GCTYO recognizes that delivery of a robust and meaningful music education must begin with an acknowledgement of the historical inequity, exclusion and disparity of access to resources that shape the landscape in which we live. Euro-centricity, hetero-normative gender expectations, colonial conquest, and anti-Black racism have shaped the history of classical and symphonic music and continue to determine access to and success in the field. Given the systemic racism, anti-LGBTQ bias, gender bias, and white privilege that dominates the orchestral world, our organization commits to creating opportunities for the meaningful inclusion of historically under-represented voices, particularly those from Black and Brown communities. These efforts will include (but are not limited to) equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogical and performance practices, diversifying our musical repertoire to include musicians and composers of color, and hiring staff that is diverse and reflective of our student community and the global community in which we live. In an effort toward accountability for these goals, we pledge to regularly engage our student musicians, parents, and GCTYO community by conducting annual assessments and inviting comments and suggestions about our progress. Our hope is that students emerge from the GCTYO music program as strong musicians with a deep commitment to social justice and an understanding of how music can play a part in achieving unity and equity for all.
AAPI Statement of Support
Spring 2021
GCTYO stands with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community who have been targeted, harassed and endured violent discrimination during the coronavirus pandemic. We recognize the valuable contributions of the AAPI community to our orchestras and to society as a whole. Racism against AAPIs has a long history in our nation that has been unaddressed and GCTYO takes an actively anti-racist stance against this bias.