Students Perform at Jordan Hall

Boston’s venerable Jordan Hall, considered one of America’s most acoustically perfect performance spaces, was the site of a special Mother’s Day concert last Sunday, with three seniors from The Rivers School’s Conservatory Program performing as soloists with the Rivers Youth Symphony Orchestra.
“The students did an incredible job,” said Gabriella Sanna, director of the Rivers School Conservatory.

Performing on the Jordan Hall stage were seniors Estelle Luong, playing a movement from Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 (view the performance here); Emilia DeJesus, playing a movement from Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 (view the performance here); and Lindy Billhardt, playing a Koussevitzky bass concerto (view the performance here). Sanna noted that each piece of music had its own distinctive qualities: The Chopin is highly expressive, the Beethoven technically impressive, and the demanding bass concerto a rarity for the instrument it features. Two of the three seniors will go on to study music at Boston University—Luong for composition and Billhardt for performance. DeJesus plans to attend Stanford University. 

“I am so grateful for the opportunities that the Rivers School Conservatory offers to its students,” Luong said afterward. “I would not have been able to have the same opportunities elsewhere. Playing at Jordan Hall as a soloist with an orchestra is definitely a milestone and also a great way to bring closure to my time at Rivers. I will forever cherish the RSC.”

Added DeJesus, “Being able to play at Jordan Hall as a soloist with the orchestra was an absolutely incredible experience,” noting that it was her second appearance in the hall. “It was a great way to end my time being a student of the conservatory, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to perform in this setting one last time before graduating.”

In other news from the Conservatory Program, senior Michael Manasseh, a jazz percussionist, was named a YoungArts winner by the National YoungArts Foundation. Out of 7,000 applicants in the areas of visual, literary, design, and performing arts, only the top 10 percent are chosen as winners. Manasseh’s award earns him the support of a large professional network, as well as an engraved plaque for Rivers that Sanna presented to Head of School Ned Parsons at a recent all-school meeting. Manasseh plans to attend a joint program at Columbia University and The Juilliard School next year. Said Philippe Crettien, jazz department chair, "As one of the top high school jazz drummers in the country, Michael has set a new standard for music excellence at Rivers."

Between the YoungArts award and the Jordan Hall performances, it was a banner week for Conservatory Program students. Speaking after the Jordan Hall concert, Sanna said, “Performing as a soloist with an orchestra is the highest possible level of accomplishment. For these kids to have that opportunity is something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”
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