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Carnegie Hall launches The Connected Musician—an interactive, self-paced video series for collegiate and early professional instrumental performers. Powered by Ensemble Connect and featuring guidance from musicians taking part in the prestigious fellowship program, program alumni, and leaders in the field, The Connected Musician is intended to expand on musicians’ toolkits, inviting them to consider new ways to engage with audiences using a plethora of digital resources hosted on its YouTube playlist and at www.carnegiehall.org/TheConnectedMusician.
For nearly 15 years, Ensemble Connect has prepared young professional classical musicians for careers that combine musical excellence with teaching, community engagement, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership, redefining what it means to be a musician in the twenty-first century. Using the resources and training developed over this time, The Connected Musician translates Ensemble Connect’s core tenets to the digital space with an experiential lab approach that invites users to participate by submitting their own work for feedback from Ensemble Connect, while also highlighting work by current fellows. With the goal of broadening Ensemble Connect’s training to an ever-expanding like-minded global community, The Connected Musician resources are offered free to musicians looking for careers beyond traditional performance, and who are interested in engaging with audiences of all kinds in new and exciting ways.
“We’re so excited to translate Ensemble Connect’s training into a modular and interactive online format, thanks to the founding support of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations,” said Amy Rhodes, Director of Ensemble Connect. “By launching this project, Carnegie Hall and Ensemble Connect continue to provide support to musicians who want to find ways to inspire, educate, and connect through their artistry. Our hope is that musicians will use these resources to forge deeper connections with audiences and to reconnect themselves with the joy of shared musical experiences. We are thrilled to launch this new platform and look forward to seeing the ripple effect that The Connected Musician has on the field.”
The Connected Musician launches with its first learning module—“Create a Musical Snapshot”—which offers bite-sized videos about how musicians can develop a creative introduction to a piece of music by developing their Teaching Artist toolkit. These topics are explored by Ensemble Connect alumni including bassoonist Brad Balliett, violist Dana Kelley, and horn player Laura Weiner, as well as teaching artist, author, and arts advocate, Eric Booth. To share how fellows and alumni of Ensemble Connect use musical snapshots in their work, The Connected Musician includes a playlist of musical snapshots for live concert audiences and for school settings. View the full Musical Snapshot playlist on YouTube here.
The Connected Musician will continue to expand to include new modules over the coming months, continuing to provide access to its training model as it broadens its network and community of musicians worldwide.
In her video, Musical Snapshots in Practice, horn player, teaching artist, and Ensemble Connect alum Laura Weiner comments, “Approaching music in this way can be one of the most gratifying ways to enrich your musical career. Leading an audience to a joyful musical discovery reconnects you with your own purpose and joy in sharing this music.”
About Ensemble Connect
Ensemble Connect is made up of extraordinary professional classical musicians residing in the United States who take part in a two-year fellowship program created in 2007 by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. The program prepares fellows for careers that combine musical excellence with teaching, community engagement, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership by offering top-quality performance opportunities, intensive professional development, and partnerships throughout the fellowship with New York City public schools.
On the concert stage and in schools and communities, Ensemble Connect has earned accolades from critics and audiences alike for the quality of the concerts, the fresh and open-minded approach to programming, and the ability to actively engage any audience.
Exemplary performers, dedicated teachers, and passionate advocates of music throughout the community, the forward-looking musicians of Ensemble Connect are redefining what it means to be a musician in the 21st century. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ensemble Connect’s current class of nine fellows will extend their fellowship for a third year, taking part in the program through Carnegie Hall’s 2022–2023 season.
