Yamaha Students Shine at 2010 National Junior Original Concert
LEXINGTON, Mass. – On October 10th, Historic Cary Hall pulsed with excitement as eleven performers, ages six to sixteen, played their original compositions for a full house of over 750. Hosted by Yamaha Music School of Boston, the prestigious event featured outstanding performers from all over the US and Canada, and was streamed live online.
The concert began with a joyful chorus of sixty YMS Boston students conducted by lead teacher Sarah Corrigan and accompanied by YMS teachers Rebecca Helm and Lucy Chen. James David Jacobs of WGBH/WCRB served as the Master of Ceremonies. Ranging in nature from upbeat to contemplative, the program was especially meaningful for YMS Boston, as it featured “Dreamland,” a piece by the school’s first-ever JOC student. “We were thrilled to host the national concert, and especially proud of the performance from our first JOC student, Jennifer Murphy, accompanied by Junior Special Advanced Course students," director Jim Keenan said.
The Junior Special Advanced Course ensemble included Elliot Hayes (Chelmsford, MA), Lily Hoyt (North Chelmsford, MA), Kento Ishii (Alrington, MA), Renee Jiang (Acton, MA), Melissa Murphy (Woburn, MA), Tristan Ohler (Acton, MA), Varun Sasisekharan (Lexington, MA), and Alex Zhang (Lexington, MA). Mike Morrell, manager of the Yamaha Music Education System, stated proudly, "The outstanding performances of the students reaffirmed the strength of the Yamaha method and the high quality musical education received by students in the Yamaha Music Education System."
Adding to the excitement was the celebration of the 50th 
anniversary of Yamaha in the US. Yamaha alumni Jeremy Siskind and Laurie Kono Merchant concluded the concert with their own compositions -- Siskind’s jazz piece, “Rain in California”, and Kono-Merchant’s “Concerto in B”. Special guests from Yamaha Corporation of America also joined the celebration. Tak Nakata, President; Rick Young, Senior VP; and representatives from the Yamaha Music Foundation (Tokyo) were in attendance.
The National Junior Original Concert not only provided an afternoon of exuberant music, but demonstrated the rich opportunities that Yamaha Music Schools offer to aspiring students around the country. "The aim of Yamaha Music School activities in the U.S. and around the world is to promote an appreciation of the value of music to our culture and to foster life long active music participation by individuals everywhere," said Morrell. “The Junior Original Concert and other such YMES activities have proven to be very effective tools for accomplishing this objective."
Click here for photos! You can download the program here: docs/2010_JOC_program.pdf Video coming soon. 