El Paso, TX — Eight-year Tocando Music Project student Daniel Moreno has been selected to participate in the internationally renowned National Seminario Ravinia: Orchestras for All this July at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois.
The major music festival will engage more than 130 teenage students from El Sistema-inspired orchestra programs from around the United States, Canada, Mexico, Greece, and Sweden from July 7-10, focusing on orchestral training, community building, and performance. Students will receive mentorship from members of the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (NOI+F) and work under the artistic leadership of famed conductors Marin Alsop, Ravinia Chief Conductor, and Jessica Altarriba, Lead Seminario Conductor. The Seminario will culminate in a performance side-by-side with NOI+F musicians in the Pavilion at the Ravinia Festival on July 10.
Daniel is a freshman at Bowie High School. He has been enrolled in the Tocando Music Project, a project of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, since the 2nd grade and the El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestras since the 7th grade. As Tocando’s first Student Teaching Assistant, he has received private lessons throughout the year and assists Tocando’s Teaching Artists.
“I think it’s really important for people to understand that these opportunities can happen for students in our neighborhood — in any neighborhood — but (they don’t) happen after (only) one year in an orchestra. This is the kind of thing that only happens after years of dedication, artistic growth, and hard work. After pushing through the tough days and committing to the process,” said Ana Maria Quintero Munoz, Tocando’s Director of Pedagogy and a Teaching Artist.
Daniel will attend the festival on a full scholarship from the Ravinia Festival and Tocando Music Project.
The El Paso Symphony Orchestra and Tocando are extraordinarily proud of Daniel’s hard work and diligence and hope that he is the first of many young musicians to receive this honor and represent our community throughout the world!
ABOUT TOCANDO MUSIC PROJECT: The El Paso Symphony Orchestra’s Tocando Music Project, in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s WMI, is an after-school program that provides music learning and performing opportunities to elementary and middle school students. Tocando’s mission is to empower children to improve their sense of community and opportunity. Music is used as a vehicle for children to acquire the valuable tools of teamwork, self-confidence, leadership, and academic success. Tocando began in September 2013 at Hart Elementary School in El Segundo Barrio. It expanded to Guillen Middle School in 2017, concentrating on schools in the feeder pattern of Bowie High School. In January 2020, Tocando expanded to Tornillo, Texas, with programming currently at the intermediate school. Collaborations with UTEP create a pathway to college for students beginning in elementary school and continuing throughout their educations and careers.
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CONTACT:
Rosemary Flores
El Paso Symphony Orchestra
(915) 532-3776
rosemary@epso.org
