Kids on the Virtual Stage 2021

For 2021, The New York Pops adapted its Kids on Stage program to align with the current climate of remote learning. Kids on the Virtual Stage is a FREE comprehensive program that introduced middle school students to the professional virtual performance process from preparing an audition video to participating in the production of a professional video performance.

A total of 81 students applied, and 66 students were invited to submit audition videos. Our adjudication panel, consisting of orchestra musicians and led by KOVS Director Brian Worsdale, then selected our 22 Fellows. As we wanted to give as many students as possible access to meaningful music experiences, we decided to create an Affiliate Residency for an additional 14 students.

The 36 total participants attended five virtual rehearsals in the spring which included coachings with our musicians and Teaching Artists, Q&A sessions with industry professionals, as well as instruction on how to use recording software and successfully record videos of themselves for the final video projects.

Thank you to Michael Markowski for video editing and Jim Nova for sound production.

Click here to make a donation in support of The New York Pops and our PopsEd programs like Kids on the Virtual Stage.

Click here to Meet the Musicians as part of our new PopsEd video series.

Check out our other digital projects like American Strings: From Folk to Film, our free virtual concert featuring The New York Pops string section.

Kids on the Virtual Stage 2021

Violin: Abigail Hua, Erica Liu, Raphaela Mao, Richard Feng

Viola: Lucy Harris

Cello: Andrew Cantor

Flute: Adam Bueno, Ben Leviathan, Eleonora Giusto, Anjali LeDoux, Louise Prelati, Nidhi Shah

Oboe: Ravi Hasegawa

Clarinet: Peyton Gooch-Tonic, Justin Li, Julian Choi, Bianca Quddus

Bass clarinet: Stefania Nuovo

Saxophone: Julianna Javier, Brianna Tang, Wynn Chang, Max Slonim, Law Watford

French horn: Maria Portillo-Collell, Felicity Zhao, Egor Kurakin

Trumpet: Juliet Arau, Emma Kelner, Isabel Portillo-Collell

Trombone: Olivia Busiri Vici, Maya Estevez

Euphonium: Kevin Kremer

Tuba: Lily Brown

Percussion: Chester Borrok, Chase Haimoff, Natalia Ginter

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Thank you to the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation for their generous support of this program.

Thank you also to the Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. for their support of PopsEd programs.