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Excited to see CVYO launching a place where our members and alumni can stay in touch over the years. I thought I would share some of my favorite personal movements from the year. One of my favorite places to see great moments in music is from just behind the stage. This year, I caught Mrs. Tseitlin holding Youth Strings together in their opening number (I may have caught a deserving side-eye from her shortly after I took this photo).

The other photo I decided to take just before I walked on stage to conduct Rite of Spring with CYAS in February (while reviewing the bar structure of the last 40 measures). A Memory Palace moment if ever there was one.

Lastly, I thought I’d share a special photo from our Summerfest at the Montecito Festival this past summer. My father dropped in for a visit to hear the Shostakovich Chamber Symphony I had re-orchestrated for its world premiere, and happened to be there with his friend and colleague Oxana Yablonskaya (a pianist with a legendary reputation around the world). Around that table, most of the adults have been mentored by my father (2nd from the left) and Oxana (4th from the left). Generational influence.

Hope you’re all having a great year, and hope to see many of you visit soon.