July 16, 2008

Contact:
Susan Silverstein, public relations
(803) 699-2800
swallach@rnh.richland2.org

National Symphony taps RNE's José Carrión for teacher fellowship
José Carrión lead an orchestra class at Richland Northeast,
with Diane Oliva at right.
Columbia, SC:  Call it a busman's holiday, but José Antonio Carrión can't think of a better way to spend the summer. The Richland Northeast High School orchestra director is spending four weeks of his summer break in Washington, DC, with the National Symphony Orchestra, which chose him for its summer Teacher Fellowship. Carrión, a candidate for a Master’s in Performance at the University of South Carolina and bassist (associate principal) of the South Carolina Philharmonic, was nominated by the South Carolina Arts Commission and is the only music teacher in the state selected for this individually designed program, which runs through August 3 in Washington.

"I am very exited and also very humbled by this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Carrión, who will be working with Elizabeth Schulze, the director of the Maryland Symphony, on conducting techniques. "I will also take double bass lessons from Jeff Weisner, a bassist from the National Symphony. I was able to build my curriculum based on my interests and experience, so I was extremely fortunate to have all these options."

As part of the fellowship, Carrión will be attending concerts, rehearsals, and master classes, and will present a session on electric violin and contemporary music styles—at Richland Northeast, he also leads The Northeast Current, the southeast's first electric-strings ensemble..

The summer Teacher Fellowship program is part of the orchestra’s American Residency program, which took place in South Carolina in February at the invitation of the South Carolina Arts Commission. In addition, new RNE graduate and Carrión's student Diane Oliva was one of four South Carolina students who received a scholarship to the Kennedy Center/NSO National Trustees’ 2008 Summer Music Institute, a four-week intensive training program. Oliva will enter the North Carolina School of the Arts in the fall.

"Without a doubt, we have one of South Carolina's finest orchestral programs," said Ralph Schmidt, Richland Northeast's principal. "It attracts our district's most talented musicians, both faculty and students, and I expect that it will continue to rack up honor upon honor."

For information on RNE's orchestra program, contact José Carrión at jcarrion@rnh.richland2.org.

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