Community brought together by the music
Phil the Hall, the New York Philharmonic’s new initiative, is a warm welcome to a public who may never before have set foot in its concert hall.
Written by Bruna Shapira
This April, NWNY Cultural Trip took us to Phil the Hall, the New York Philharmonic’s new initiative to welcome New Yorkers dedicated to public service to its concert hall. For most of our group, it was the first time there. “Our community is formed mainly by recent immigrants. It is really important for us to create opportunities for them to get together and learn more about the city they call now home. Discovering New York Philharmonic with such a unique concert as Phil the Hall created a sense of belongingness as everyone appreciated the beautiful music in a beautiful place with a friendly group of fellow immigrant women,” says NWNY’s Program Associate Gyuzel Zaripova.
The project, conceived to welcome a public who may never before have set foot in the space, is personally important to the Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden, the New York Philharmonic’s new music director. In his first season in the role, Phil the Hall offers a chance to introduce himself. The 75 minutes-program combined works that show the diversity of classical music with hits you may recognize from advertising and popular media, including Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” and Bernstein’s Overture to “Candide”. The orchestra was also joined by the Westminster Symphonic Choir for a lively performance of Copland’s “The Promise of Living” from the opera “The Tender Land”.
One of the highlights was the premiere of shorts works by two participants in the Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program: Brazilian-American Paloma Dineli Chesky and Chinese-American Mack Scocca-Ho, both 11 years-old. Paloma told the audience that her composition (“Rising”) was written during a period of family difficulties as well as upheavals worldwide. Mack’s “Ociantrose” was inspired by a made-up country, where unity comes from the people, not from an imposing, centralized power. The little composers were a delight to see: very serious and professional yet still children with their usual hopes and dreams in different scales – going to sixth grade and contributing to world peace.
The evening ended with Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”. Before it, van Zweden said that the symphony is all about “bringing the community together,” which is “what we did with you tonight,” followed by an enthusiastic round of applauses. The apotheotic end really happened with an encore, when he got back to the stage to conduct the Star Wars’ musical theme. Then the community was definitely brought together.
New Women New Yorkers’ Cultural Trips: Would you like to attend cultural trips with us while connecting with other immigrant women, practicing your English, and discovering New York City? To join our Cultural Trips in 2019 and learn about our other programs, subscribe to New Women New Yorkers’ newsletter for immigrant women.
Watch a video about Phil the Hall featuring our Program Associate Gyuzel Zaripova.
