April 5, 2024 (Los Angeles, CA) - The Musicians at Play (MAP) Foundation is launching the Civic Orchestra of Los Angeles with an inaugural concert on April 28th at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.  Under the direction of Conductor and Music Director Anthony Parnther,  the mission for the new Los Angeles-based 70-member orchestra is to continue MAP’s training of youth and provide career pathways, world-class training and performance opportunities for young professional musicians in Southern California.

 

“With the recent closing of both long-time pre-professional Los Angeles-based orchestras, the YMF Debut Orchestra and American Youth Symphony, we knew we needed to step up and do something to remedy the issue,” said Parnther, who also serves as the MAP Foundation’s Artistic Director. “We’ll be offering spots to AYS alums and combining their talents with some of our top students from MAP’s growing RISE Diversity Project.”

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Southern California, with top-notch conservatory-trained students from USC, UCLA, Colburn, the CSUs in Long Beach, Fullerton, Northridge, Cal Arts, and other excellent institutions, boasts one of the largest pools of competitive, young professional musicians in the United States.

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”We continue to work at our mission of creating music education, mentorship and performance opportunities for underrepresented youth, and we’re thrilled to support this incredible new orchestra under Anthony’s leadership,” said MAP Co-Founder and Executive Director April Williams.

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Parnther continued, “Over the years, it’s always been an immense responsibility to program music for an orchestra, especially a training orchestra. You want to expose the group to a mixture of cornerstone repertoire, new works, and perhaps overlooked works that deserve to be performed more frequently.”

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The new MAP Civic Orchestra of Los Angeles, or CO-LA, will be presenting Robert Schumann’s Third Symphony, nicknamed “Rhenish,” and fitting for the type of traditional orchestra repertoire for young musicians to master.  The ensemble will also feature guest soloist Thomas Hooten, Principal Trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, on an often overlooked Concerto for the Trumpet, composed by Aleksandra Pahkmutova. The concert will open with a celebratory new work by Valerie Coleman-Page called Seven O’Clock Shout.

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The April 28th concert will begin at 8pm with a 6:00 pm VIP Ticket Reception.  General admission is free to the public. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Donations are welcomed and accepted to fund MAP’s pre-professional CO-LA Training Program.

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For tickets or to donate to Musicians at Play’s CO-LA, please visit www.musiciansatplay.org.

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The Musicians at Play (MAP) Foundation is a 501(C3) Non-Profit Music Performance and Education Foundation with EIN #47-3332460.

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ABOUT Musicians at Play (MAP) Foundation:

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The Musicians at Play (MAP) Foundation creates access to and awareness of Los Angeles’ diverse musical heritage, through educational music and mentorship programs, as well as professional performances which fill the socio-economic needs of underserved youth and communities. MAP’s programs help students to build career skills and pathways to support the creative cultural expression of the community. MAP's core values of Access, Excellence, Racial Equity and Inclusivity ensure free access to communities in underserved populations who have little to no ability to receive arts or music education. MAP’s purpose is to provide tuition-free music instruction programs aligned with VAPA standards to support teachers, parents, students and community members in defunded, marginalized communities suffering from systemic racism and the digital divide. Facilitated by accredited educators who are also professional local musicians in the Film, Concert Hall and Recording Industries in Los Angeles, MAP’s programs cross fourteen disciplines among woodwinds, strings and percussion instruments. For more, visit MAP at www.musiciansatplay.org.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION / PRESS CONTACT:

Staci Griesbach
Musicians At Play Foundation
StaciGriesbach@LunaWorldwide.com

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