Inner City Youth Orchestra Of Los Angeles To Close Season With Performance At Walt Disney Concert Hall 3 PM July 8

DISNEY HALL CONCERT PRESS RELEASE
www.ICYOLA.org

LOS ANGELES, CA — JUNE 11, 2012 — The Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA) will present its Season Ending Concert at the world famous Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 8, 2012. The program will feature Crown Imperial by William Walton, Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber, the Finale to The Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky, and violinist Jordan Busa performing Meditation from “Thais” by Jules Massenet. The highlight of the program will be a performance of Piano Concerto No. 1 by Sergei Prokofiev, featuring 16-year old pianist Ferre Hodges. The orchestra will also perform a Tribute to the late Whitney Houston.

ICYOLA is comprised of primarily African-American youth aged 10-25 from the various communities of Greater Los Angeles. It transforms lives and minds of inner city youth by teaching its members the great music of the world, and providing performance opportunities in the greatest settings of the world. Within the last year, the orchestra has performed for the Martin Luther King Memorial dedication luncheon in Washington, DC, for the Los Angeles Times Book Fair on the campus of USC, for the NAACP National Convention, and for a presidential fundraiser honoring First Lady Michelle Obama.

“Our objective is to prepare young people for life – both in music and otherwise,” comments ICYOLA founder, music director and conductor Charles Dickerson. “We seek to create pathways into major orchestras, the Fortune 500, and the Presidency of the United States,” he adds. “We provide a nurturing environment of acceptance and inclusion where our members can hone their skills – something that is too often lacking in other programs in which our members either are or have been a part.”

“We are grateful to all who have made this opportunity for young people from our community to perform at Disney Hall a reality,” says Dickerson. “We are particularly grateful for our corporate sponsors – Toyota Motor Company, Northrup Grumman, American Airlines, Wells Fargo, United Parcel Service – and the support of our political leaders – particularly Supervisors Ridley-Thomas and Yaroslavsky – and others for their generous support. Los Angeles is a better city because of ICYOLA, and our entire community will be more harmonious because of this event.”