November 13, 2002 – In a program sponsored by the C.W. Post Institute for Arts & Culture and Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, talented young Long Island musicians from the C.W. Post Orchestra, Susan Deaver, director; and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, John McNeur, director, will work with some of the world’s best orchestral artists in a collaborative residency program with the New York Philharmonic, a national leader in programs which encourage the development of young artists. All events of the residency take place at Tilles Center or Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.

As part of this residency, members of the C.W. Post Orchestra and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra will participate in orchestra and sectional rehearsals, panel discussions and master classes with Philharmonic musicians. The sectional and full rehearsals are on Monday, November 18. Students will attend an open rehearsal of a New York Philharmonic concert at Avery Fisher Hall on Thursday, November 21, and then attend the public performance of that concert at Tilles Center on Friday, November 22. Also on November 22, the student musicians will participate in master classes being offered at Tilles Center by New York Philharmonic musicians.

New York Philharmonic musicians participating in the residency are Ken Mirkin (strings), Rob Botti (woodwinds), L. William Kuyper (brass), Justin Hines (percussion) and Michael Adelson (cover conductor).

Elliott Sroka, director of the C.W. Post Institute for Arts & Culture and executive director of Tilles Center, explained: "The development of young musicians is central to our mission. Through this exciting, ongoing collaboration, Long Island students have the opportunity to make music under the guidance of world-class artists." Speaking for the New York Philharmonic, Director of Education Tom Cabaniss said: "We continue to be excited about this partnership between the New York Philharmonic and Tilles Center which has benefited so many of Long Island’s young musicians."

The New York Philharmonic residency is a part of the Rose Tilles Lectures program which provides opportunities for C.W. Post students and faculty to interact with prominent artists and educators appearing at Tilles Center.

Through its extensive arts education program, Tilles Center continues to strengthen its commitment to nurturing the artists and audiences of tomorrow. Beyond the residencies with the New York Philharmonic, other components of Tilles Center’s arts education outreach program include Tilles Scholars, a program run in conjunction with the C.W. Post music and dance departments and which provides scholarship support and concert attendance for outstanding Long Island student musicians and dancers; the School Partnership program which brings Tilles Center teaching artists into Long Island schools to link cultural activities into school curriculum; and the Performances for Schools program which has expanded each year and which now serves more than 13,000 school children annually with day-time performances by world-class artists. Tilles Center outreach activities are funded by Swing for Kids, the successful annual golf and tennis tournament, which marked its eleventh year in June 2002.

Visit Tilles On Line at www.tillescenter.org for current information and updates. Programs at Tilles Center are supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts.

Long Island University’s Tilles Center for the Performing Arts is on the C.W. Post Campus, Route 25A in Brookville. For further information on arts education programs at Tilles Center, call Andrew Berger at (516) 299-2388 or Deborah Robbins at (516) 299-2389.