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YMMC benefits from Jazz & Desserts at Carmel Presbyterian Church.  A big thank you to Abby Warburg at Carmel Presbyterian Church for organizing such a wonderful Jazz & Desserts event last Friday night. Youth Music Monterey County was the beneficiary of the donations that evening and that arrangement is thanks to the spiritual leadership at the church and headliner, Tony Bolivar, and the musicians in the band. The evening was a delightful mix of original works and covered pieces with lively improvisation. Thank you to Tony Bolivar (his supportive family) and the other wonderful musicians, Bobby on keys, Bill on guitar, Mark on base, and Max on percussion. Tony collaborates so beautifully with musicians and trombonist, Felix Diaz Contreras, a past Youth Music Monterey County alum, who is very active in the music performance and teaching scene in the county had some great improv moments on stage. YMMC couldn't have had better spokespersons that night than Abby, Tony, and Felix. The audience that evening was very supportive with attentive listening, warm applause, and a sizable donation that evening that benefitted YMMC instrument repair and replacement and online donations. Thanks, from YMMC for a great night of music benefiting our students.

YMMC's chamber ensemble Woodwind Trio to perform on Monday, September 1st, at approximately 3-3:30pm on the stage at the Seaside City Hall (440 Harcourt Avenue, 93955). Support music at the Monterey Pops Labor Day concert with the YMMC Woodwind Trio.

Sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F45ABAA28A6F58-57844951-welcome

Youth Music Monterey County congratulates Daniel Brier, our recent Music Director, on his new position as Director of Orchestral Studies for the Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis. We cherish the time Maestro Brier spent with our YMMC students. Let us all join in wishing him and his family well as he takes on his new position. Daniel Fung, our former Executive Director, has left YMMC also. We appreciate the positive impacts he made on our organization and wish him well in his future endeavors. As we bid Daniel Brier and Daniel Fung farewell, we proudly welcome Alan Truong, our new Music Director. Alan Truong is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and holds a Masters Degree in Conducting from the Julliard School. Among his professional experiences, Alan has worked extensively with youth orchestras such as the Julliard Pre-College Orchestra, the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras, and the Rochester Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. Alan is the first YMMC alum to take on the Music Director role. Thus, he brings a unique relationship to our young musicians. In addition, we applaud Candis Badgley Carlson for recently taking on the role of YMMC Programs Director. She originally joined the Staff in fall, 2024 as Program Assistant. Candis received her Bachelor of Music from Wichita State University and her Masters of Music from California State University Northridge. Prior to joining YMMC, she had been the Woodwinds Teaching Artist at Youth Orchestra Salinas and a faculty member, teaching clarinet and chamber music, at California State University Northridge. She fits well in her new YMMC position with a multi-faceted career as an educator, arts administrator, freelancer, and sought after chamber clarinetist. Please join us for the 2025-2026 season, which promises to be inspiring. The Junior Youth and Honors Orchestra concerts are on Sundays, 3:00 pm at Sunset Center in Carmel-by-the-Sea on November 16, 2025, March 1, 2026, and May 10, 2026. In addition, our Orchestra in the Schools program will perform concerts on Thursdays, December 11, 2025 and May 14, 2026. Place and times to be announced.  Our South County Strings students get an opportunity to perform at the end of each semester in their five elementary schools in Soledad. For further information, please go to our Website: youthmusicmonterey.org , or call the YMMC Office: 831-375-1992. Thank you for all your incredible support! Looking forward to seeing you soon! YMMC Board of Directors Acting President , Peter Meckel, Secretary ,Mari Rondeli, Acting Treasurer, Edward Gavrin, Board Members Amelia Maaske, Cynthia Schroeder, and Lisa Barca Hall.

It's time for that fun potluck event-the welcome back barbecue. All Youth Music Monterey County students registered for Junior Youth Orchestra, Honors Orchestra, Chamber Ensembles, Orchestra in the Schools, and South Country Strings and their families are invited to a barbecue potluck on Sunday, September 7, at Hidden Valley Music Seminars from 12pm to 2pm . This is a great time to meet our staff including Music Director, Alan Truong, Program Director, Candis Badgley-Carlson, have the students make new friends and see existing ones, and just have fun. The potluck sign up sheet link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F45ABAA28A6F58-57844951-welcome

Honors Orchestra Students on Wednesday, August 20th, at Monterey offices. Alan Truong, our new Music Director, will be doing placement auditions for Honors Orchestra this coming Wednesday, August 20th, between 4 and 9pm at 546 Hartnell Street, Ste.  B, Monterey 93940.    A second day is already being considered. If you missed this first placement audition date keep in touch. You should also have your m usic exerts via the Dropbox Link. The link was in the acknowledgement email sent after you requested your audition time. Any questions email or call 831-375-1992.

Sign up now for August 13 & 14 audition times!

YMMC staff at the MPUSD Back to School Bash booth. The Monterey Peninsula Unified School District held its Back to School Bash Saturday, July 26th, at Seaside High School, and Youth Music Monterey County was there. We spoke with over 140 students and families who tried out instruments with our staff members Candis and Miriam at the music instrument petting zoo. Amelia help parents sign up for Orchestra in the Schools registration and gave out information about our Junior Youth Orchestra and the audition process. Info on our concert dates & details were shared all could experience classical music share in the joy of music! Trying out the violin for the first time.

Orchestra in the Schools (OITS) is open for registration. OITS makes learning an instrument easier for families and their student.

Support HVMS our JYO & HO rehearsal sponsor. On Sunday August 3, 2025 at 3:00 pm  The Monterey County Composers' Forum will present Endless Light, a concert of new music by local composers and songwriters. Featuring Guest Artists: Laura Schwingle, soprano and Paula Monteith Haro, dancer Music by: Steve Ettinger, Alexandro Gatica, Paula Kaiser, Carleton Macy, Douglas Ovens, Julie Roseman, Ealaph Tabbaa, Dale Victorine, and Rick Yramategui

YMMC strongly encourages our students to enjoy this CBF concert.

Youth Music Monterey County welcomes Alan Truong back as their new Music Director. Alan Truong — conductor, educator, presenter — is a rising force in the sphere of American music, connecting music with the experiences of performers and listeners alike.   He was recently Cover Conductor for the New York Philharmonic’s Art of the Score concert series and has made public appearances with the Juilliard Lab Orchestra and the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra. With the Juilliard Orchestra, he has assisted some of the leading conductors of this generation, including Bertrand de Billy and Donald Runnicles. In 2023, he served as Assistant Conductor for the Aspen Festival Orchestra, in addition to being a fellow at the Conducting Academy. In the Winter of 2022, he stepped in on 48 hours’ notice to conduct AXIOM, Juilliard’s New Music Ensemble in a concert of world premieres.   In 2025, Alan came full circle when he was named the first alumni Music Director of Youth Music Monterey County, having spent formative years in the orchestras as an adolescent playing the Bassoon. A Salinas native, he is a galvanized advocate for music education in under-resourced communities, a result of being raised in his hometown’s Youth Orchestra of Salinas, an El Sistema-inspired program. He continuously serves as a Teaching Artist, actively forming the future generation of the musical community in a city historically afflicted by an arts drought. In the past, he has worked extensively with the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras, and is a regular guest conductor with the Rochester Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.   He has participated in masterclasses with some of today’s foremost conductors and pedagogues, including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Bertrand de Billy, Robert Spano, Cristian Măcelaru, and James Ross. Alan was a recipient of the Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant and the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship. As of 2024, he holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the Juilliard School under the auspices of David Robertson. He also holds a Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.