In memoriam: Carolyn Elley Long

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Dear Friends,

It is with great sadness that we share with you that Carolyn Long passed away yesterday at the age of 98. It is difficult to put into words our admiration and gratitude for a woman who was the heart and the drive of the VYOA for so many years. Her tireless work had a direct impact on the lives of thousands of young musicians over the years, and on the greater musical community of Vermont due to her role in the creation of the Elley-Long Music Center. She truly believed in the value of music in a young person’s life, and for that we will be forever grateful. The VYOA would not be the amazing organization that it is today without her vision and support.

Please stay tuned as we make plans to honor her life and legacy. If you have memories and photos of Mrs. Long that you would like to share, please send them to martha@vyo.org or mail them to VYOA, 223 Ethan Allen Avenue, Colchester, VT 05446.

Click here to read Carolyn’s obituary

Click here to read the Burlington Free Press article about Carolyn

Elley-Long transforms into Hogwarts!

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We take Halloween very seriously here at the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association. Each year we try to wow our students with great costumes and decor. This year, the staff chose a Harry Potter theme and really ran with it! Mia, our Operations Assistant, did a fabulous job on the decorations. Her homemade hanging candles really helped transform the building into Hogwarts. All of our faculty and staff put together great costumes! We had Harry & Hedwig, Dumbledore & Fawkes, Professor McGonagall, two Hagrids, Professor Snape, and Mrs. Weasley. Bravi to all involved in making this year’s Harry Potter Halloween our best yet!

October’s “From the Podium” A Message from our Music Director

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Our third annual Autumn Promenade was a spectacularly memorable event. One of the highlights for me was conducting our combined instrumental and vocal forces in the evening’s musical finale: Gloria in excelsis, from Vivaldi’s Gloria. Since 2007, the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association has offered vocal ensemble opportunities designed to empower young Vermonters to develop a lifelong passion for singing. Our vocal students perform great choral repertoire under the guidance of expert conductors, who are recognized as educational leaders in our state. They also take part—as they did at Autumn Promenade—in important collaborations with their instrumental peers at the VYOA. Choral-orchestral performances provide our students valuable experiences that broaden their artistic understanding, and expose them to a wider range of inspiring repertoire.

As I conducted the first rehearsal for our performance of the Gloria, I watched with excitement to see musical discoveries being made by players and singers alike while they worked together. One of the great privileges of my role as music director is facilitating occasions like this, when our students’ musical horizons expand before their very ears. Thank you to everyone who helped make Autumn Promenade a wonderful evening for our friends and supporters, as well as an important musical experience for our talented students.

Don’t miss the next choral-orchestral offering at the VYOA—it’ll be a new and inspiring feature of this year’s OrchestraChorusPalooza!

Musically Yours,
Benjamin Klemme
Music Director