Sound Explorers!
Composer-in-Residence : Trey Makler
““I believe this is the key to the survival and flourishing of classical music: we must expand into the community, beyond the concert hall, in order to meet people where they are in life rather than expecting them to always come to us. A more equitable exchange between listener and performer, the creative support of young people within the community, and a union between composer, audience, and ensemble will enhance the renaissance of the city of Vallejo, its symphony, and its residents.”
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Meet Trey Makler, Vallejo Symphony’s first Composer-in-Residence, who will work with Vallejo schools to establish Sound Explorers!, a free program for Vallejo students, in Hogan Middle School.
This program will guide a diverse group of 20 young people as they create their own music. Instruction will focus on hands-on, experiential learning that encourages the development of students’ individual identities and voices. Beyond enjoying a one-of-a-kind musical experience, students will also strengthen their own self-confidence through their creativity and self-expression. Additional support will be provided by our Music Director, Marc Taddei, and the musicians of the Vallejo Symphony. At the end of the program’s first phase, the Vallejo Symphony will perform the students’ compositions at a streamed and live concert for Vallejo Schools.
Sound Explorers! will stand out as the only program of its kind in the Bay Area, and will continue to foster the Vallejo Symphony’s joyful, all-age concert culture. The program’s first year has been funded through a $19,000 matching grant from the California Arts Council. Generous donors from the community are contributing an equal match so that the program can thrive. Can we count on your help? We hope to make this program self-sustaining and to continue to expand it over the next several years. If you care about the future of music education, please donate what you can at VallejoSymphony.org, and mark your donation for Sound Explorers! so it will be sure to count towards the match.
Trey Makler’s background as both composer and educator with some of the world’s leading classical music institutions makes him uniquely qualified for the role of Composer-in-Residence with the Vallejo Symphony. His music ranges from solo to chamber, orchestral to opera, and he is pursuing a PhD in Theory and Composition at the University of California-Davis and holds degrees from The Juilliard School and the University of Missouri. During his tenure as a teaching artist with the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers program and The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement program, he witnessed first-hand the ability of music to transform the lives of young people.
Mr. Makler’s new work for orchestra, “you echo in me” will be featured at our May 2023 concerts.
School Concerts
Vallejo Symphony presents two free concerts a year for students from Vallejo schools. Music Director Marc Taddei presents a brief talk before each performance, introducing the instruments and giving the students historical and musical background to the works. We offer students an educational, inspiring concert experience in a concert hall—not a school all- purpose room—to make students feel like full-fledged members of their community who have a right to enjoy two of Vallejo’s greatest artistic assets: VSO and the Empress Theatre! This year’s school concerts will present music composed by participants in the Sound Explorers! Program.
We can’t wait to hear it!