3/12/2017
Councilman Bob Weiner Sponsored County Grant to Help Fund Brandywine School District Orchestra's Carnegie Hall Concert

Brandywine students seek money to play Carnegie Hall  

Ken Mammarella News Journal 3/12/17

When the Brandywine School District Orchestra plays Carnegie Hall April 10, it’ll do many things.

It’ll demonstrate the growth of district orchestral programs. “We’ve progressed so far,” said senior violinist Deirdre Buckmaster.

It’ll make memories. “I’ve never experienced anything like that,” said sophomore cellist Isaiah May.

It’ll be “big and exciting,” said senior violinist Harrison Dennett. “It’s a really cool opportunity.”

And “it’ll show people what we can do,” said sophomore violinist Mackenzie Pile.

The invitation came about last year when orchestra director Anita Pisano asked junior cellist Isabel Stone to name her dream gig.

And it follows what might have been the death of the orchestra when a tax referendum failed before a second attempt passed.

About 30 of the orchestra’s 70 members, from Brandywine, Concord and Mt. Pleasant high schools, have committed, but the cost of nearly $1,000 per student is a stumbling block for others.

Pisano said students have held fundraisers and “sold as much as we can.” They’re crowdfunding via CheddarUp.com and Concord Friends of Music. A send-off concert is planned March 28 at the Grand.

Fundraising chair James R. Hanby Sr. hopes “these students have an opportunity I never had.” He played the violin in elementary school and 30 years ago helped try to start a district strings program.

It’s not just the joy of performance. He told the story of Edna Turner Bradfield, who as leader of the Wilmington Orchestra House in decades past, said “music can help a pupil in algebra.”

Donors so far, Pisano said, include the principals of all three high schools, the Brandywine Education Foundation, Richard Donner, Joseph and Judith Setting, New Castle County Councilman Bob Weiner and State Sen. Cathy Cloutier.

Besides the prestige of being selected for Carnegie Hall’s Symphonic Series, the students are also seeing the Statue of Liberty and “Aladdin,” with a bonus backstage tour.

“The whole trip is about playing on that stage and being better at what we do,” Pisano said.

“By performing together, we grow closer as a family. I’ve had some (students) since sixth grade and seen them grow.”

At first, students were pulled out of other classes for lessons, but that evolved into classes in each high school.

“It’s been incredible to watch and share their personal experiences,” she said.

When the strings program – violin, viola, bass and cello – was scheduled for fiscal elimination last year, Pisano planned a thematic program that included Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” and Haydn’s “Farewell Symphony.”

“It was a very moving concert,” she said. “A nice way to say goodbye.”

A second tax referendum passed, and the orchestral program survived, so the Carnegie Hall and Grand concerts include this symbolic trio: Chesnokov’s “Salvation Is Created,” “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity” from Holst’s “Planets” and highlights from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

For the last piece, district STEM coordinator Judson Wagner led makerspace students into creating bows that resemble light sabers, via wiring, coding, 3D printing and laser cutting.

“This is where music and technology converge,” the Brandywine Bow Project tweeted.

To make it all happen, Pisano said she did a lot of research about the companies that book performances at Carnegie Hall.

She selected Manhattan Concert Productions because it “was the most reliable, with the best background and strongest recommendation.”

To be accepted, she had to submit recordings of the ensemble (one last fall, another this month) and background information about the ensemble and the schools.

The firm says “each participating ensemble will receive written and recorded critique by nationally recognized clinicians as well as a private clinic session with one of them.”

“It’s a master class, basically,” Pisano said. “We’ve been through a bunch of bumps and bruises, but we have grabbed that energy and are able to perform as a family.”

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