Our three inaugural book launch events for Playing For Their Lives — in Maplewood NJ, Boston, and New York — went off beautifully, thanks to many friends whose additions to our readings and remarks really enlivened and intensified the message of the book!
In Maplewood on September 22nd, at The Woodland, we were delighted to feature an ensemble of 25 kids from the El Sistema New Jersey Alliance, who hailed from programs in Union City, Orange, Newark and Paterson.
In New York City on October 5th, at the Philippine Center in midtown, we were equally happy to feature young players from Sistema-inspired programs across the city: the Harmony Program, UpBeat NYC, the Washington Heights-Inwood Music Project, the Corona Youth Music Program, the Opportunity Music Program, and the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
And in Boston on September 29th, we were generously hosted by the Longy-Bard School of Music, and our special guest there was Judy Bose from the WolfBrown Group, which has been conducting research on U.S. Sistema-inspired programs across the U.S. for two years. Judy reported some initial findings of the research, which is still in progress — and the findings were quite positive. More on that later!
— Tricia and Eric