Once again, the best of the best young musicians find themselves on Shelter Island for the 31st summer in a row. At the end of July, they plan to share all that they’ve been practicing during a seven-week program led by top musicians.
The sweet sounds of the Perlman Music Program’s String Orchestra and Chorus travel from their campus to Southold Junior-Senior High School on July 29.
The carefully-selected group of 31 students, ranging in age from 12 to 18, will put on an array of choral pieces, including works from George Frideric Handel, Felix Mendelssohn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The chorus’ most notable piece will be Franz Schubert’s Mass No. 6 in E Flat Major. On the orchestra side, the students are looking forward to performing Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence” – a piece the renowned Russian composer wrote after spending time in Italy in the 1800s.
“It’s a great, exciting piece of music that I think basically anyone who goes to the concert would enjoy,” says Nico Olarte-Hayes, Perlman Music Program’s dean of students.
Another reason the Tchaikovsky selection will shine is because it is intended to be played by a sextet — two violins, two violas and two cellos — but instead will have the intricacies of the music expanded by the full orchestra.
“It has all the virtuosity and conversational qualities you would have in a smaller chamber work but magnified onto a much larger scale,” says Olarte-Hayes.
Most of the program’s annual concerts over the last three decades have been held at Southold Junior-Senior High School. The program aims to showcase the students’ talents to surrounding communities, but the Southold school auditorium also happens to have spectacular sound.
“I’m a cellist and a conductor so I’ve performed in many venues, and the Southold auditorium has really good acoustics,” Olarte-Hayes says.
The program was founded in 1994 by beloved violinist and program maestro Itzhak Perlman and his wife Toby Perlman to train young string musicians possessing rare talent. Itzhak Perlman has had a long career in classical music, performing for politicians and royalty.
Outside of their annual concert, the organization hosts recitals in New York City and puts on travel residencies in Sarasota and Palm Beach, Florida, as well as Tel Aviv, Israel.
Its Shelter Island summer program accepts talented students from across the United States, China, Taiwan, Norway and Australia among other locations.
“We’re kind of in our little campus bubble,” says Olarte-Hayes. “Over the course of seven weeks together, the kids get really comfortable with one another, make lifelong friendships and I think you can see that in their music making.”
The show begins at 7 p.m.; purchase tickets here or at the door. Admission is $25 for adults and is free for those 18 or younger.
