Youth Orchestra offers opportunity for musicians

The Youth Orchestra of Pottstown would like the opportunity to clarify a point in the recent article written in reference to our program.

Part of the article is quoted out of context from what our director said to the young intern who wrote the story in The Mercury. There are no community ensemble opportunities in Pottstown or any of the surrounding communities, making community music inaccessible to kids in Pottstown, which is what was meant by that quote. Pottstown, Pottsgrove and many of the surrounding school districts that were invited to participate in this orchestra have strong music programs.

What this program aims to do is to provide opportunities for the serious young musicians in the area, both in and out of those programs, to keep up their skills over the summer, and give them more opportunities to play in ensembles aside from those available in some of the schools.

As was correctly stated in the article, the director hopes to be able to add all instruments into the orchestra in subsequent summers. The reason for the orchestra being only strings this summer, again correctly stated in the article, is that right now we have very little funding, and purchasing music for a full orchestra is extremely expensive. As funding is acquired the orchestra will expand to become a full symphonic orchestra.

It is our hope that in future years, we can bring back the Pottstown Symphony Orchestra as well, to run through the year in addition to a summer youth orchestra. Our director, Niki Purdy, is the principal bass player of the Newark Symphony Orchestra (NSO), as well as a board member there, and has strong passion for what a community orchestra can give a young musician and all members of a community. She wants the young musicians in the area to have the same opportunities she had to participate in communitydriven music making, but close to home and in their own community. — Tracy Purdy President, Board of Directors Mosaic Community Land Trust, Pottstown