ESYO and RPI join forces for first major collaboration

TROY — The Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO) and the Rensselaer Orchestra are joining forces in April for their first major collaboration to present a unique concert experience that combines the strengths of both orchestras. The theme centers on the concept of breath and explores both the resonance and restraint of human nature.

The series began on April 13 at the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and continues on Sunday, April 21, at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy.

“This shared space of discovery, innovation, collaboration, and artistry provides the ideal framework for the collaboration between the Rensselaer Orchestra and the ESYO Symphony Orchestra,” said Dr. Robert Whalen, Director of Institute Ensembles at RPI.

The Rensselaer Orchestra consists of 75 students from 26 different majors, from music and electronic arts to nuclear engineering and computer science. “This collaboration underscores the impact and relevance of the arts in a STEM-oriented curriculum and how the arts act as a creative catalyst to inspire communities across a diverse population,” said Dr. Whalen.

It’s a unique opportunity for both student groups to get to know each other,” noted ESYO Music Director Etienne Abelin. “It’s a passion for us to do these kinds of collaborations.”

To make this collaboration possible, the students had to implement the concert’s theme of breath into their own practice, adapting and adjusting to working side by side and using the space to play together and learn from and mentor one another.

“It’s something that I think will fill many with hope for the future,” added Abelin. “Just to see what is possible when humans come together, when young people come together, and get to know each other.”

For the ESYO students who will be attending college soon, working with RPI students provides them with a glimpse of what’s ahead. “RPI is one of the colleges they look up to and might consider going to,” said Abelin. “This is a great opportunity for them to socially bond. It also gives us the unique opportunity to play a piece that asks for a large orchestra that both of our organizations could not pull off alone.”

With the two different conductors interpreting the concertos with their own unique visions and around 160 people in the orchestra working together, it provides audiences with the special opportunity to hear them tackle monumental masterpieces, such as Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth. “That creates a sound that is even beyond what a large orchestra usually sounds like,” said Abelin.

In addition to Maya Johnson, the Rensselaer Concerto Competition Winner performing Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, featured soloist Cairo-Durham High School Sophomore Kingston Czajkowski will be making his solo debut with an orchestra on April 21.

This is Czajkowski’s second year with ESYO, and he plays for the percussion ensemble. He has been recently honored with the esteemed title of being ESYO’s 2024 Lois Lyman Concerto Competition Winner.

“It’s been an incredible experience. I’ve met so many new people and gotten to play a lot of new music,” said Czajkowski. “It’s been a great thing beyond my school program that’s helped me grow as a musician.”

The composition he won for, Concertino for Marimba, is by American composer Paul Creston. Creston wrote the piece in the 1940s, when there weren’t almost any pieces for the marimba at all. The marimba is a distinctive and versatile instrument that Czajkowski is eager for audiences to experience at the collaborative concert.

“It’s very historically important,” said Czajkowski regarding the composition. “He [Creston] wanted to show off the marimba as an instrument, which I think is great because even today it’s a little-known instrument, and I think people need to be more exposed to the marimba literature. It’s a great introduction.”

The piece is structured like a traditional concerto, with movements that exemplify the instrument’s abilities. “It’s incredibly exciting; it has so many contrasts and changes in color,” described Czajkowski. “The second movement in particular is this very slow, beautiful melody that reminds me of water— like waves on a beach. It’s such a beautiful image.”

Czajkowski described himself as ‘nervous and excited’ for his debut. “Something people tell me a lot is that when I perform, they can tell I’m enjoying it because I love it. I want to bring that to the performance,” said Czajkowski.

“Music is an art and a form of expression, and the goal is to feel something and to experience new emotions through the performance,” he continued. “That’s what I hope to bring to this piece.”

Czajkowski is also looking forward to the communal effort of the collaboration. “An orchestra is a huge team, and it’s teamwork,” he said. “We all work together to create this incredible work of art.”

“We see ourselves as one piece in a larger puzzle in an ecosystem of music and arts culture in the region,” said Abelin. “It’s really important that we all function well together and create as many synergies and opportunities for our students and professional musicians as possible, but also for our audiences to enjoy.”

“It has been inspiring to see the Rensselaer and ESYO students interact; what a remarkable sound emerges when those 155 student musicians unite!” noted Dr. Whalen. “We are proud to join forces again with the region’s premiere youth orchestra program; this is a program not to be missed.”

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