Q: What was your favorite performance or travel moment?
A: My favorite experience was the ninety-minute clinic with Michael Adelson. He engaged all of the students on a deeply musical level and evoked a level of musicality from the ensemble that I had never seen. This Clinic provided my students with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with a conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Maestro Adelson’s kindness and musicianship brought out my student’s true musical potential. He took time out of his day to watch the orchestra’s Sunday-evening performance via livestream and reached out directly to give my students praise. 

As for our performance, The Church of the Incarnation provided a beautiful and acoustically superior venue for our performance. The church administrators and staff were helpful and supportive from beginning to end. The quality and professionalism of the livestream helped involve our local community, and I would choose this venue again over a more prestigious one simply for their support.

Q: How was the sightseeing aspect of your tour between performances?
A: The guided sightseeing was informative and entertaining even if the pacing was a little fast. However, this is the nature of sightseeing in Manhattan because there is so much art, history, and culture.

Our orchestra tour of New York City was a transformative experience. The performance venue, clinic, and sightseeing activities were all thoughtfully curated by MCI to give my students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share their musical talents in one of the world’s greatest cities.