Young Performers Program, ages 9–18

For Advanced String Players and Pianists

July 12–August 3, 2019

Gloria Chien, piano, Chamber Music Institute Director
Dmitri Atapine, cello
Jessica Lee, violin
Hyeyeon Park, piano
James Thompson, violin

Music@Menlo’s Young Performers Program provides an incomparable experience for some of the most outstanding young musicians from across the country and abroad. Designed for enthusiastic and dedicated string players and pianists ages nine to eighteen, the program immerses students in a rigorous, nurturing environment where they will explore three pieces of repertoire, culminating in weekly performances. Students should be at an advanced level and have studied privately for at least three to five years.

Tuition
$3,200. Financial aid and scholarships are available and will be awarded on the basis of need and merit. Download a financial aid application here.

Housing for Students Under the Age of 14
Students under the age of fourteen are not eligible for festival-sponsored housing and families must arrange independent accommodations, such as Airbnb. A parent or guardian must accompany their student for the entire length of the program.

Housing for Students Age 14 and Above
Housing consideration is made for students ages fourteen to eighteen who reside at least forty miles away from Atherton, California. Space is limited. Accommodations are provided by a local hotel approximately five miles from the Menlo School campus. Students are chaperoned by Music@Menlo residential life staff, and transportation is provided between the hotel and the Menlo School campus. Cost per student is $3,900 and includes all meals.

Rooms are double occupancy and students are grouped together based on age and gender. Because students are expected to attend almost all evening concerts and lectures over the course of the three-week festival, the schedule is very rigorous and intensive and may not be a good fit for every applicant (see daily schedule above). Deviations to the evening schedule are agreed upon by majority vote of the student resident group and subject to approval by the Resident Advisors and/or festival staff. Students are expected to yield to the majority wishes of the group when necessary.

The festival does not provide a shuttle making multiple daily trips to and from the hotel. With few exceptions, Resident Advisors bring students to the festival campus in the morning and then bring them back to the hotel at the end of the evening.

2019 Schedule
From July 12 through August 3, the daily schedule includes coachings with the core artist-faculty and visiting artists and other activities. Sundays are days off, although students are encouraged to attend the festival’s multiple ticketed concerts on those days (complimentary admission). Below is the typical weekday schedule, although times may vary depending on evening concert schedules:

7:30 a.m. — Breakfast*
8:00 a.m. — Depart hotel for Menlo School*
8:45–9:00 a.m. — Roll Call and Announcements
9:00–9:15 a.m. — Warm-up
9:15–10:25 a.m. — Session I – Ensemble Rehearsal or Coaching
10:25–10:35 a.m. — Break
10:35–11:35 a.m. — Session II – Ensemble Rehearsal or Coaching
11:35–11:45 a.m. — Break
11:45 a.m.–1:00 p.m. — Master Class or Café Conversation
1:00–2:00 p.m. — Lunch
2:00–3:10 p.m. — Session III – Ensemble Rehearsal or Coaching
3:10–3:20 p.m. — Break
3:20–4:00 p.m. — Group Activity
4:00–5:00 p.m. — Free time/Individual Practice
5:00 p.m. — Prelude Performance
6:00 p.m. — Dinner*
7:30 p.m. — Encounter lecture or concert
9:30 p.m. — Return to hotel*
11:00 p.m. — Curfew*

* Students residing in festival hotel only (minimum age of 14)

Dress rehearsals (8:30 a.m.) and Young Performers Program concerts (1:00 p.m.) will take place on the following Saturdays: July 20, 27, and August 3. The program concludes on August 3 with a reception following the Young Performers Program concert.

To learn more about the festival’s ticketed events and to view the concert calendar from the 2018 season—which will give applicants an example of what to expect for 2019—click here.

Private Lessons
Private lessons are not offered.

Festival Concerts and Lectures
Tuition includes free admission to each festival concert and lecture.

Videos

• For a behind the scenes glimpse of the Chamber Music Institute, watch this.
• What makes Music@Menlo such a magical place? Click here.
• Watch a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in G Major from the 2016 Young Performers Program.
• Watch a performance of Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for String Octet from the 2016 Young Performers Program.
• Watch a performance of Dohnányi’s Piano Quintet from the 2014 Young Performers Program.
• Watch a performance of Bizet’s Jeux d’enfants from the 2013 Young Performers Program.

Learn More
Mission Possible by Ariane Todes