Online Summer Session Archive
Watch all past online summer sessions here!
Level Up Your Practice Game!
Thursday, May 14, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Dan Mollick and Greg Milliren
Free and open to students in all grades and instruments
Join Dan Mollick, GTCYS Concertino Conductor and Greg Milliren, Minnesota Orchestra Associate Principal Flute, to learn about effective and efficient ways to practice at home. Whether you are preparing for your upcoming GTCYS audition or starting to work on a new piece with your teacher, you will leave this session with three action steps to level up your practice game at home! Download and print handout.
GTCYS Audition Q&A
Monday, May 18, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Mary Sorlie
Free and open to students in all grades and instruments
Mary Sorlie, GTCYS audition expert and Philharmonia East and West conductor, will share advice for navigating the new 2020 GTCYS audition process and help make your audition process as smooth as possible. A few students will be invited to play part of their audition, so bring your questions! Download and print handout.
What to expect at GTCYS: A Program Primer
Led by Ernesto Estigarribia and Miranda Bryan
Free and open to students in all grades and instruments, as well as parents and families, best for students who are new to GTCYS
Ernesto Estigarribia, GTCYS Sinfonia East conductor, and Miranda Bryan, GTCYS Program Director, will share information to help students envision themselves in GTCYS by sharing details about rehearsals and small group (sectional) experiences, performances, advice about how to practice orchestra music, and how students can enhance their orchestra community. We’ll also cover nuts and bolts including: supplies for students need for a rehearsal, how to apply for a scholarship, how to report an absence, and volunteer opportunities. Bring your questions!
Bowing Boot Camp
Monday, June 8, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Mary Sorlie
Free and open to string players in grades 3-8
This session is designed for beginning string students and will cover fundamental bow strokes and articulations. Students will learn how and when to use legato, staccato, pizzicato, marcato, spiccato, and more!
Music Theory and Listening Skills I
Tuesday, June 9, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Ernesto Estigarribia
Free and open to students of all grades and instruments
Join GTCYS online for a series of three interactive sessions led by Sinfonia East conductor Ernesto Estigarribia. Students of all ages will be introduced to music theory, listening skills, and solfege to boost their musical skills and sight-reading abilities!
Session #1 will cover topics including:
- Major and minor scales
- Key signatures
- Basic rhythmic and melodic dictation
- Introduction to solfege in treble clef
Scales and Improvisation
Monday, June 15, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Mary Sorlie
Free and open to string players in grades 3-8
Looking for a way to learn your scales AND enjoy them? This session for beginning string students will focus on major and minor scales, but other scales (chromatic, blues, and modal) will also be explored. Learn how scales are built and new ways to practice them with improvisation and rhythm patterns.
Music Theory and Listening Skills II
Tuesday, June 16, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Ernesto Estigarribia
Free and open to students of all grades and instruments
Join GTCYS online for a series of three interactive sessions led by Sinfonia East conductor Ernesto Estigarribia. Students of all ages will be introduced to music theory, listening skills, and solfege to boost their musical skills and sight-reading abilities!
Session #2 will cover topics including:
- Intervals
- Intermediate rhythmic and melodic dictation
- Sight singing
- Introduction to solfege in bass clef
String Theory
Monday, June 22, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Mary Sorlie
Free and open to string players in grades 3-8
This session for beginning string players will help make the connection between music theory and your fingerboard. Mary will lead students through key signatures, harmonics, scale patterns and time signatures and help enhance their music fundamentals. Download and print handout.
Music Theory and Listening Skills III
Tuesday, June 23, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Ernesto Estigarribia
Free and open to students of all grades and instruments
Join GTCYS online for a series of three interactive sessions led by Sinfonia East conductor Ernesto Estigarribia. Students of all ages will be introduced to music theory, listening skills, and solfege to boost their musical skills and sight-reading abilities!
Session #3 will cover topics including:
- Taking the mystery out of common musical terms
- Chord structures
- Solfege in both treble and bass clefs
Conducting Fundamentals
Thursday, June 25, 4:00-5:30pm
Led by Mark Russell Smith, GTCYS Artistic Director
Free and open to all instruments in grades 9-12
Join Maestro Smith for a session that explores the many skills and knowledge that orchestra conductors use every day, including beat patterns, ear training, music history, and more! Learn about preparing a score and orchestral parts for study and performance. GTCYS Sinfonia East conductor Ernesto Estigarribia will co-host and take questions about all aspects of the art of conducting.
Introduction to Baroque Music
Monday, June 29, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Mary Sorlie
Free and open to students in all grades and instruments
This session will provide a broad overview of music of the Baroque period. Composers, repertoire, and characteristics of Baroque music will be discussed. Learn why music of this time period is now called HIP!
Music History and Appreciation I – Birth of the Symphony
Tuesday, June 30, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Ernesto Estigarribia
Free and open to students of all grades and instruments
This series of three interactive sessions led by Sinfonia East conductor Ernesto Estigarribia will lead students through the history of orchestral music and explore great masterpieces that shaped the orchestra as we know it. The first session in this series will cover the beginnings of the symphony starting with Haydn and other Classical Era composers through brief excerpts and discussion.
Music History and Appreciation II – Beethoven the Revolutionary
Tuesday, July 7, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Ernesto Estigarribia
Free and open to students of all grades and instruments
This series of three interactive sessions led by Sinfonia East conductor Ernesto Estigarribia will lead students through the history of orchestral music and explore great masterpieces that shaped the orchestra as we know it. The second session in this series will explore Beethoven’s revolutionary orchestral works and why they continue to move and inspire us today.
Music History and Appreciation III – Isn’t It Romantic?
Tuesday, July 14, 4:00-5:00pm
Led by Ernesto Estigarribia
This series of three interactive sessions led by Sinfonia East conductor Ernesto Estigarribia will lead students through the history of orchestral music and explore great masterpieces that shaped the orchestra as we know it. The third and final session of this series will cover trends and innovations from the Romantic Era. Great musical works and composers of this period will be explored along with the society and history that shaped them.
Deliberate Practice: How Going from GTCYS to Nanotechnologist to the Met Opera Helped Craft a Practice Process for the Uncertainties of the COVID-19 Era
Wednesday, July 15, 12:00-1:00pm
Led by Jason Haaheim, GTCYS Alum ’97
We are all experiencing unprecedented times, and young aspiring musicians face a daunting future. Jason Haaheim’s unorthodox career path has illuminated the value of the right kind of practice–deliberate practice–and not just because it is the most effective way to hone your craft on the way to a performing career. Deliberate practice inherently builds a diverse and valuable set of skills that you can (and should!) apply throughout your entire professional life and can help sustain yourself through even the most turbulent and uncertain times. In this hour-long session, Mr. Haaheim discusses his path to the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, how to still be productive lacking access to percussion instruments, the attributes of deliberate practice, and how to begin incorporating this versatility starting now.
