YMTA Summer Meeting
Join the YMTA for a summer lunch and a brainstorming session about how to relaunch community music activities in a post-COVID landscape. RSVP to Gretchen Dekker (gretchenedekker@gmail.com) before 8 AM on Friday 7/8 to confirm your attendance and receive directions to the meeting location. YMTA Members, Friends, and any interested community music professionals are all […]
PMTA Workshop led by Marvin Blickenstaff
Grace Lutheran Church 1610 Carlisle Road, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, United StatesYMTA Members and Community! Come join us for the PMTA Workshop led by Marvin Blickenstaff! It will consist of three sessions: 1) 9:30 – 10:45 2) 11:00 – 12:15 Lunch) 12:15 – 1:15 3) 1:15 – 2:30 Topics: Guidelines for Interpretation Basic Technical Training for the Young Student What do you do when YOUR magic stops. […]
Susan Miller Performance Festival 2022
Watch this space for updates about the YMTA's annual SUSAN MILLER PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL, which will take place in early October 2022. Students receive valuable feedback on their prepared solo pieces, test their theory skills, and can elect to audition for participation in the HONORS RECITAL, all on one fun-filled day! Details coming soon...
Junior Podcast Interviews
Heidelberg UCC 47 W Philadelphia St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesDrop-in for 5-minute interviews (may need to wait depending on how busy it is) Based on Kirstin Myers’ and Morgann Davis’ podcast “Life Between the Notes”, student musicians are invited to be interviewed about the role that music plays in their life. These short sessions will be collected, curated, and shown on the YMTA website […]
Warm-Ups for Advanced Auditions
Trinity UCC 32 W Market St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesStudents who are auditioning at Trinity UCC will be given a 10-minute warm-up slot in the foyer prior to their performance. String players MUST use a mute to warm up, pianists MUST use headphones
Main Registration and Passport Pickup
Heidelberg UCC 47 W Philadelphia St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesStop in and pick up your Festival “passport” and map and find out where all of the day’s activities are happening! Learn how you can get your passport stamped and earn a free slice of pizza from Archetype and hot cocoa from Prince Street Cafe (5-8 stamps). Extra-ambitious festival participants (8+ stamps) will qualify to […]
Pick-Me-Up Snacks
Individually packaged FREE snacks and pony bottles of water will help keep you going so you can visit ALL the venues and stations and get that passport filled with stamps… Snacks can be found at St John Episcopal and Heidelberg UCC
Susan Miller Festival Auditions
By Appointment (pre-registration required) Students who have pre-registered will play a closed (elementary) or public (advanced) audition for an adjudicator who will rate their performances. Beginners/early intermediate piano at ST JOHN EPISCOPAL (Choir Room), Elementary strings at HEIDELBERG UCC (Classroom), Advanced piano, strings, and voice at TRINITY UCC (sanctuary), Advanced overflow piano, strings, and voice […]
Market Pop-Ups
Central Market 34 W Philadelphia St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesMAKE MUSIC ALL DAY LONG – drop in and play the keyboard or pull out your guitar or flute and share the spirit of the festival through performance! Students, teachers, and community performers including the YJSO Octet, Dallastown String Ensemble, and First Capitol Brass will be scheduled for sets throughout the Market’s opening hours, but […]
Festival Theory Testing
St John Episcopal 140 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesDrop-in (pre-registration required) All YMTA auditioning students take a level-specific PMTA theory test. These are graded and, if the student is applying for the “honors” track, count toward their eligibility for the YMTA honors recital on 1/28
Celebrating The Spirit: An Epiphany Service of Lessons and Music
St John Episcopal 140 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesThis “top of the festival” Episcopal worship service will get everyone in the spirit by celebrating the season of journeying and light. Featuring the Community Festival Choir, Multi-Gen Brass, and Festival Strings in addition to the pipe organ, piano and maybe even a few handbells, music will ring out the old and ring in the […]
Kindermusik Sampler with Windham Studios
Heidelberg UCC 47 W Philadelphia St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesSessions beginning on the hour (lasting approx. 20-30 minutes) Young music lovers can step right up to engage with sound and have FUN with music through this accessible, entertaining experience designed for young musicians (toddlers and preschoolers welcome) and parents! Led by certified Kindermusik educator Sarah Heckert of Windham Studios, ALL ages can participate in […]
Games We Play
Heidelberg UCC 47 W Philadelphia St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesSessions beginning on the half-hour (lasting 15-20 minutes) Get (back) in the holiday spirit with Holiday Cup Rhythms! Tap, slap, and count your way into some fun – and funny – sounds played on ordinary Solo cups with piano accompaniment (best for students age 8+ with some music experience). You can also make and decorate […]
Junk Band with Jeff
Creative York 10 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesRhythm grooves for all with “junk” instruments (buckets, chopsticks, pie pans, etc.) - Jeff will run 30 minute sessions that are drop-in, no-experience-required and participants will learn several rhythmic patterns that can be combined to form intricate African-inspired rhythmic “grooves”.
Free Music Exchange
Heidelberg UCC 47 W Philadelphia St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesPick up (or feel free to drop off!) donated music books, both repertoire and pedagogical volumes – if it’s on the table, it’s free to a good home (and you can drop off anything you’ve outgrown or want to trade). Especially welcome are pedagogical materials that families can trade to one another as students step […]
Musica Electronica – Studio Fun
Heidelberg UCC 47 W Philadelphia St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesStudents can experiment with electronic music production tools: vocoders, looping pedals, sound boards & mics, electric cellos, etc. Come find out what music + electronics has to offer!
Instrument Petting Zoo
Heidelberg UCC 47 W Philadelphia St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesAn interactive, hands-on opportunity to see, touch, hold, play, and hear advanced performers play the instruments of the orchestra. Periodic pop-up ensemble performances by the YJSO Octet as well as performances by a York Symphony quartet and the First Capitol Brass will highlight this open-forum experience.
The Blues Band
Marketview Arts 37 W Philadelphia St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesDrop-in Any Time A drop-in opportunity to learn the Blues scale, play a simple progression, and do a 12-bar blues improv experiment – encourage auditioning students to do this to loosen them up (!) and make sure there are no-experience-needed chances to play along (percussion, perhaps).
Miller Music Festival
Come play with us DOWNTOWN on January 6th, 2024! FESTIVAL WEATHER UPDATE as of Friday Morning:Due to the impending snow for Saturday, January 6th, the Miller Music Festival will be scaling back. All activities will take place from 10am-12:30pm. The festival will conclude after the 1pm The Matinee "TRADITIONS" recital and Miller Scholarship Competition at […]
Pop-Up Performances
Creative York 10 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United States15-minute sets performed by local talent – all genres, all styles! Come and check it out to see who is MAKING (their own) MUSIC at Creative York today… The MacCloskey Family Band and soloists from York College and members of our own York Community! Performances at 10:40, 11:40, 12:40, and 1:40.
Organ Crawl & Play
Join Rodney Barnett and Dick Frey to discover the King of Instruments from the inside out! Look, see, touch, play, and get inside a pipe organ – there are two wonderful instruments in today’s venues and two excellent teaching artists to show and share. Students who play the keyboard (all levels) may bring a short […]
Eastern Music: An Introduction
St John Episcopal 140 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesSession on the hour at 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, and 2 pm. Take 30 minutes with ethnomusicologist Jan Protopapas to “go deep” in a mini-workshop on Indian classical vocal music with harmonium. Learn a simple melody in an Indian raga accompanied by a cyclical rhythm and experience new sounds as Jan leads small […]
How I See – And Hear – It: Art Through Music
Marketview Arts 37 W Philadelphia St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesDrop in to view art; music ongoing Experience immersive music all day with rolling rotations for solo cello with Baltimore Symphony Solo music provided by BSO cellist Lukasz Szyrner and conservatory students Katrina Wolfe and Ryan Schick, as well as sitar sets with John Protopapas, “troubadour” songs with singer/songwriter John Terlazzo, and American folk music […]
Shine with Peter and Friends
Join Peter Botros at this exciting step-in opportunity to SHINE with music! This is your chance to be “part of the band” after just a few minutes of learning some easy tunes and riffs…or to just stand back and let the music wash over you. Come and SHINE with us through music! Location TBD: Continental […]
Hands-On Harpsichord Corral
St John Episcopal 140 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesSee, touch, learn about, and play a clavichord and a (digital) harpsichord. Learn why a harpsichord isn’t a piano, and try a short piece on YOUR instrument – with harpsichord accompaniment! Periodic period-accurate performances of our signature festival pieces may just…break out, so come ready to jump in and play! Enjoy pop-up performances by the […]
Chime-O-Rama
St John Episcopal 140 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesDrop-in fun as well as guided learning sessions on the hour (not between 1-2 pm) Two octaves of BOOM WHACKERS and Malmark hand chimes will be set up for anyone to step in and try their hand – drop-in sessions will run about 15 minutes, and all that is required is a sense of adventure, […]
Flute Factory: Just Fluting A-Round
St John Episcopal 140 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesDrop-in all day, guided sessions at :15 and :45 (decorating is ongoing at will) Come learn about flutes and whistles at the flute factory with Alicia Kosack and friends! Participants will get to choose their own colorful whistle and can personalize their instrument at our craft table, then learn some simple tunes and play a […]
Piano Anatomy 101
St John Episcopal 140 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United States11:00 am – 12:45 pm and 2:00 – 3:15 pm, ongoing demonstrations all day long Did you ever wonder how the piano makes sound? What are all those PARTS you can see in there – what do they do? Let expert registered piano technician and tuner Mabel Tang take you on a journey INSIDE the […]
The Magic Flute: An Opera Adventure
St John Episcopal 140 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United States11:00 am – 12:30pm and 2:00 – 3:30 pm on the hour and on the half-hour (approx.. 15-minute session) Embark on a whimsical journey with Mozart's "The Magic Flute"! This enchanting opera weaves a tale of love, wisdom, and trials as Prince Tamino and the bird-catcher Papageno set out to rescue Princess Pamina. Amidst mystical […]
Storytime – With Music!
St John Episcopal 140 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesInteractive readings at 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:30 pm. Local author M.J. McCluskey will read some sneak preview passages from her young reader book “The Mystery of the Naked Violin” with special musical performances played on a VERY special violin to accompany the story! Additional readings or popular children’s books about music including such […]
Matinee “Traditions” Recital with a special tribute to Dr. Robert Hart Baker (1954-2023)
St John Episcopal 140 N Beaver St, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesThis midafternoon recital will feature adult members and friends of the Matinee Musical Club of York, a 100+ year-old organization that encourages local musicians to keep performing in the community. A diverse and stellar program of vocal and instrumental music featuring First Capitol Brass, flute, violin, cello, organ, voice, and piano will be presented including […]
YMTA Honors Recital
York College of PA: Demeester Recital Hall 441 Country Club Rd, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesTwo programs featuring students who achieved HONORS level at their Miller MAKE MUSIC Festival auditions on January 6th (Violin, Cello, Piano, and Voice) DeMeester Recital HallYork College of Pennsylvania
Matinee Music Club Recital
St. Matthew's Lutheran Church 839 West Market Street, York, PennsylvaniaCome and enjoy an afternoon of musical delights for piano, strings, and voice in the beautiful sanctuary of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in York! This dual program will feature both student and adult performing members and a wide variety of repertoire selections, including music by Brahms, Tchaikowsky, and Clara Schumann.
“Women’s Work”: Music for Piano and Strings by Female Composers from the 17th to the 21st centuries
DeMeester Recital Hall, York College of Pennsylvania 441 Country Club Road, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesJoin members of the York Chamber Players Jeni Herrera-Mullar, Sara Male, and Gretchen Dekker for an evening of music composed by women from the 17th to the 21st centuries. This innovative multi-sensory program will include works by Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, Clara Schumann, Nadia Boulanger, Rebecca Clarke, and Meira Warshauer and will feature visual […]
Jupiter String Quartet with Ken Osowski
Waldner Performing Arts Center, York College of Pennsylvania 440 Country Club Road, York, PennsylvaniaFriday evening, April 12, the incredible Jupiter String Quartet will be performing at York College of Pennsylvania. The concert begins at 7:30 pm in Waldner Performing Arts Center, and it is free and open to the public. The group will perform quartets by Wynton Marsalis and Su Lian Tan, and Ken Osowski will be joining them for […]
Matinee Music Club of York Recital and Wolf Competition
Eastminster Presbyterian Church 311 Haines Road, York, PennsylvaniaJoin the adult and student members of the Matinee Music Club of York for a recital and the RESCHEDULED Wolf Piano Competition (it was snowed out in January!) Beginning at 6 p.m. with the competition and concluding with a recital program featuring both adult and student members, this will be an exciting finish to the […]
Faculty Recital, Dr. Hyesung Hwang
DeMeester Recital Hall, York College of Pennsylvania 441 Country Club Road, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesCome and hear two iconic masterworks for solo piano performed in one evening by Dr. Hyesung Hwang, piano faculty member at York College of Pennsylvania. On Wednesday evening April 17th at 7:30 p.m. in DeMeester (Wolf) Recital Hall, Hyesung will perform Modest Mussorgsky's monumental "Pictures at an Exhibition" followed by Beethoven's equally revered final Sonata […]
York Youth Symphony Chamber Ensemble Recital
DeMeester Recital Hall, York College of Pennsylvania 441 Country Club Road, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesJoin York Youth Symphony student members and their professional teaching artist coaches for an afternoon of music for CHAMBER ENSEMBLES! Winds, strings, brass, and piano will all be featured playing music by both classical and contemporary composers including the premier of "Letters to Myself II" by composer and pianist Kt Allenbaugh. FREE and open to […]
YMTA Student Recital
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York (UUCYork) 925 South George Street, York, PennsylvaniaJoin our students for a final, festive recital event for this program year at the beautiful Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York! Students of all ages - but especially our youngest performers - will have an opportunity to show and share all of the progress they have made this spring in their studies. All are welcome, […]
Saturday Salon Recital
The Residence at Fitz Farm 2200 Springwood Drive, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesJoin students and friends of the YMTA as we bring the JOY of music to our senior residents where they live! A light and fun-filled educational program will be offered featuring performers of all ages and levels playing music from the classics to today. This is a great opportunity for YMTA students to earn service […]
Saturday Salon Recital #2 (!)
...but wait, there's more... join YMTA students and friends as we offer a SECOND Salon recital in June - this one at Spiritrust Lutheran Kelly Drive on their beautiful Steinway grand piano! ALL ages and levels are welcome to participate in this fun, educational event - service hours are available for students. Sign up to […]
Make Music Day 2024!
Downtown York https://www.yorkcity.org/, York, PennsylvaniaJoin all of your musical friends to MAKE MUSIC all day - it's INTERNATIONAL MAKE MUSIC DAY on Friday, June 21st, and the YMTA will be part of the excitement in downtown York and the surrounding areas! Join the String Fling, take a turn at the Piano-a-Thon, do the Organ Crawl, sing in the Mobile […]
WELCOME BACK! Kick-off Recital 2024
Eastminster Presbyterian Church 311 Haines Road, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesWelcome back from your summer of studying, practicing, and being inspired through vacation and restorative time with friends and family! Come share "how I spent my (musical) summer vacation" piece with us at this KICK-OFF event where all ages and levels are welcome to perform.
SALON RECITALS: The 2024-25 Season begins at Fitz Farm on Saturday 9/14!
The Residence at Fitz Farm 2200 Springwood Road, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesCome play with us as we bring the music to the seniors at the Residence at Fitz Farm at the first SALON RECITAL of the 2024-25 season. All ages and levels are welcome to share their pieces in these community-friendly programs emceed (and usually accompanied) by Gretchen Dekker. Service hours are available for students in […]
SALON RECITALS: The season continues at Spiritrust Kelly Drive on Saturday 9/21!
Spiritrust Lutheran the Village at Kelly Drive 750 Kelly Drive, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesWelcome back to another season of "Salon" recitals held on the THIRD Saturday of every month at the Spiritrust Village at Kelly Drive! Come play the beautiful Steinway (or any instrument, or sing) and share the joy of music with our senior friends at this welcoming facility in York. All ages and levels welcome, and […]
SALON RECITAL #2 at the Residence at Fitz Farm
The Residence at Fitz Farm 2200 Springwood Drive, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesThe Salon Recital series continues at The Residence at Fitz Farm on the SECOND SATURDAY of every month at 1 pm - come, share your music with the senior residents of this beautiful facility! This event is for all ages and all levels, and family and friends are welcome to attend in the audience. Service […]
SALON RECITAL #2 at Spiritrust Lutheran Village at Kelly Drive
Spiritrust Lutheran the Village at Kelly Drive 750 Kelly Drive, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesJoin us on the THIRD Saturday of every month at the Spiritrust Village at Kelly Drive! Come play the beautiful Steinway (or any instrument, or sing) and share the joy of music with our senior friends at this welcoming facility in York. All ages and levels welcome, and family and friends are invited to join […]
YCPrep/YMTA Student Recital
York College of PA: Demeester Recital Hall 441 Country Club Rd, York, Pennsylvania, United StatesAre you RECITAL READY? The YCPrep Community Music School hosts 4 formal recitals each season that present polished and prepared students with the opportunity to perform on stage in the DeMeester Recital Hall at York College of Pennsylvania (a professional collaborative pianist is available to accompany). There is limited space on these programs: students are […]