By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Black Swamp Fine Arts School is rolling out a new way for young musicians to express their love of music.
This fall the school’s new Strings Youth Orchestra will start rehearsing. Students in grades 6 through 12 can sign up for the ensemble now. Audition videos should be submitted to music@blackswampfineartsschool.com by Friday, Aug. 1 at 11:59 pm.
The school’s music director Allana D. Bogan who will conduct the orchestra said the “audition” tapes are not for selecting who will play, but to give her an idea of the level of proficiency.
Bogan who has been on the school’s staff for two years said she “became really passionate about this job. … I wanted to expand the opportunities that we have here.”
She wanted her violin students and others to have the chance to perform in an orchestral setting.
“Youth orchestra is special,” Bogan wrote in an email to BG Independent. “When you have a group of young musicians coming together weekly, working to create something bigger than what we can offer by ourselves as solo musicians, that is extraordinary. I think this chance to play in a youth orchestra is important to young musicians because it teaches students the art of collaboration.
“When student’s arrive to rehearsal each week, they know they can count on each member of the orchestra to work together towards the same goal: to make the ensemble sound better and more musical each week!”
That opportunity exists for students in Perrysburg and Bowling Green, which have school orchestral programs.
And the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts has several youth orchestras. Those are more selective.
“ I wanted something a little bit more accessible, maybe a little bit more affordable for families in this area and south of Bowling Green,” Bogan said in a recent interview.
The tuition will be on a shared cost basis. The more students involved the lower the cost.
The tuition breakdown is:
- $230 per student: 5–9 students
- $200 per student: 10–13 students
- $185 per student: 14–17 students
- $180 per student: 18 or more students
Families will be notified of the cost once registration is completed. To enroll a student must be taking private lessons.
Bogan explained that “students will be learning orchestral etiquette, hold leadership roles, and a chance to perform standard orchestral pieces.”
At this point, the ensemble will be strings only, though the possibility that in the future it could add horns and percussion. The school now has a woodwind teacher and is hiring guitar and voice instructors.
Bogan said she’s passionate about “imparting a love and appreciation for orchestral music to the next generation of musicians.”
She grew up in Spartanburg South Carolina in a musical family. They were referred to, she said, as the Spartanburg Von Trapps, after the family “The Sound of Music” was based on.
“it was a natural thing for me to go into music, “ she said. She studied privately When she was in high school she started considering pursuing a career in music.
Bogan attended Converse University starting in music education before earning her degree in music performance.
She met Emily Freeman Brown of the BGSU faculty at BGSU. Brown told Bogan about the graduate conducting program and during the audition “we really hit it off.”
Now in addition to teaching strings at the Black Swamp Fine Arts School she conducts around the region, including with the Toledo Youth Orchestra Program, and an ensemble from a home school co-op.
The first rehearsal for the String Youth Orchestra will be Tuesday, Sept. 9 in Covenant Church, Bowling Green.
