'The Orchestral Rock Project' a Joint Venture

On Jan. 8 2011, students from the Uptown Music Collective will join the members of the Williamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra on stage at the Community Arts Center for a performance of classic orchestral rock music from groups such as the Beatles, the Moody Blues, Electric Light Orchestra, Aerosmith and the Eagles.

The project, hoped to be the first of many exciting collaborations between the two youth centered organizations, was made possible by a grant from the Williamsport-Lycoming Community Foundation.

Rock music, in all of its rebellious nature, has always had a love affair with the orchestra and classical music itself. From rocks beginnings, bands would frequently record songs with string and horn accompaniment. Classical inspired themes, over time, slowly entered the lexicon of rock music, influencing it both harmonically and melodically, ultimately broadening the music’s scope beyond its blues based roots. In recent years there have been a plethora of recordings and live concert collaborations between rock bands and symphony orchestras, including Metallica’s AlbumS&M recorded with the San Francisco Symphony and Collective Soul’s Home: a live concert recording with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra.

The Orchestral Rock Project began in January of 2010, funded by a grant from the Williamsport-Lycoming Community Foundation, the project started off with the creation of orchestral arrangements by area musician and arranger Rob Byham. “
Money from the grant allowed Rob to create an orchestration class for Uptown Music Collective students where he taught the basics of orchestration, those students then assisted him in the creation of the arrangements for the performance” said Dave Brumbaugh, Executive Director of the Uptown Music Collective.

“This project is a wonderful alliance between two of Williamsport’s premiere youth performance organizations,” said Rob Byham. “I am fortunate and blessed to collaborate with such talent from both the Williamsport Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Uptown Music Collective. I am looking forward to great concert on January 8th.” Funds from the grant were also used to purchase music notation software and computers dedicated to the purpose of arranging, orchestrating and notating music for students and staff at the Collective.
Established in April of 2000, the Uptown Music Collective has developed a reputation as the premier source of music education in the area. Offering private lessons at all levels on guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals, as well as classes and workshops in music theory, songwriting, and styles such as the Blues, Jazz, Classical and Rock. The primary age range of the Collective is 10-18 yrs old, but is open to all ages and levels.
Along with private lessons, the UMC offers a myriad of programs including its flagship Performance Program. This program educates students about the ins and outs of major and minor performances, including direction, production, preparation and technical aspects of the performances. The program brings outstanding student run performances to the area, including the most recent, Urban Legends: the music of ten cities, Reaching Beyond Limits: a Benefit Concert for the Children’s Development Center and last year’s hugely successful Heard it Through the Grapevine: A Tribute to Motown.
Entering its 25th silver anniversary season, the Williamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra offers regional young musicians an unsurpassed performance opportunity to perform challenging music before a live audience under the leadership of music director Jennifer Sacher-Wiley.

“This is an excellent opportunity for two groups of student musicians to collaborate, stated Jennifer Sacher-Wiley. “It’s exciting to be premiering these new orchestrations, too. I’m looking forward to spending time with the Uptown Music Collective students and staff and hope that the WSYO members will enjoy making music with new friends. Playing rock music will be challenging and rewarding for us. I’m grateful to Dave Brumbaugh and Rob Byham for their hard work and vision.”

“We do a wide variety of music at the Uptown Music Collective and have performed often with strings and brass. This however will be the first time with an entire orchestra,” said Dave Brumbaugh. “This is an amazing opportunity for our students and a unique opportunity for our community. It’s not every day that you see seventy teenage musicians from different musical backgrounds; take the stage together in an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect, focused only on making great music together. It has been great planning this performance with Rob Byham and Jennifer Sacher-Wiley, I’m very excited to hear the beautiful music that will come of it.”

The Orchestral Rock Project concert sponsor is Lundy Construction, the show is also sponsored by Jersey Shore State Bank, Don and Shelly Fuller and Century Accounting. Tickets for the performance are $10 in advance and $15 at the door with proceeds benefiting the Uptown Music Collective and the Williamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Tickets are available at The Uptown Music Collective (848 West Fourth St., Williamsport), The Community Arts Center Box Office (220 West Fourth St., Williamsport) Alabaster Coffee, K&S Music and Franco’s . For more information about the Orchestral Rock Project, or the Uptown Music Collective in general, check outwww.uptownmusic.org or call 570-329-0888.