How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

The Napa Valley Youth Symphony knows how: Hold a gala event at Yountville’s Lincoln Theater featuring auctions, food, wine and 16 world-renowned opera stars. An avid audience will turn out, and proceeds from the event—titled Serenade to Youth—will help support a trip to New York City, for an inaugural performance at Carnegie Hall.
    The Napa Valley Youth Symphony, which spun off from the Napa Valley Symphony in 2006, is comprised of nearly 70 musicians, ranging in age from 11 to 20. The Carnegie Hall performance takes place on June 17, with a repertoire tentatively including The Three-Cornered Hat by Manuel de Falla and Camille Saint-Saens’ Danse Bacchanale. The four-day visit to NYC will include rehearsals as well as a more casual outdoors pops concert. “We’ll also squeeze in a Broadway show and maybe an evening cruise,” says maestro Ming Luke. “It’ll keep them relaxed—and in one area so they don’t go wandering around!”
    The maestro knows the thrill of what lies ahead: He first performed at Carnegie Hall in eighth grade as part of a choir, and again at age 18 as a solo pianist. “We’ve been talking about it for a year,” Luke says. “As it gets closer, we get more excited. These are the kinds of experiences that will encourage more and more of our youth to pursue their musical dreams.”

For more information about the Napa Valley Youth Symphony, call (707) 944-1300 or visit nvyso.org.

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