Rutherford High School student Matteo Paoli, member of the New York Youth Symphony trombone section, made his Carnegie Hall debut on December 2 in Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances.
The New York Youth Symphony is an elite group made up of the best young musicians from the New York tri-state area. Each applicant goes through a rigorous competitive audition process in hopes of being part of this distinguished orchestra. Once in the orchestra, members receive mentorship from musicians of the Metropolitan Opera as well as the New York Philharmonic.
The orchestra performs three programs at Carnegie Hall each year and this year will be touring Spain in the summer with performances in Madrid, Seville, and Granada. While in Spain, the members of the orchestra will be mentoring local children.
In addition to attending the Manhattan School of Music Precollege, Matteo takes part in other ensembles outside of school, which include the positions of principal trombone in the ISO Symphony Orchestra in NYC, principal trombone of the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Symphony Orchestra, and other smaller chamber ensembles.
He has been a four-year member of the RHS Wind Ensemble as well spending three of those years as a member of the Marching Band. Matteo not only performs regularly, but also composes and conducts small ensembles in NYC. The NYYS season will continue with two more Carnegie Hall performances in March which will include Dvorak’s Symphony No.9 and in May Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2.
Matteo wishes to attend either the Manhattan School of Music, Boston Conservatory or the Mannes School of Music in the fall.
Article by Karen Travellin