Inspiring Artistry. Engaging Community.
“A big misconception of this style of music is that you have to have a previous knowledge of it to be affected by it,” Hughes said. “This music is made for everyone by everyone.
Now is the most exciting time to be alive if you love symphonic music, especially if you think you don’t understand it. Anyone can listen to an orchestra and have their own interpretation, their own experience. It means exactly what you think it means.”
-Boulder Daily Camera
Donate to help us to engage, enrich, and inspire our communities around the world through symphonic music and education:
NEWS
Classical Kids Concerts
Check out Devin’s new venture, Extra Crispy Creatives LLC, creating classical music enrichment and entertainment for learners of all ages, and serving orchestras and music organizations across the globe.
For any organization serving children, the Curiosity Concerts are a great way to engage the entire family in the magic of the orchestra. To find or book a classical kids concert near you:
Conductor, Music Director, Symphonic Catalyst
We had the good fortune of connecting with Devin Patrick Hughes and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Devin, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
“You have to go for it. When you dream big, or have a vision to make your community a better place, or the world a better place, there will be many obstacles in your way. One can easily give up, or listen to critiques, and get sidetracked. If you are clear on your vision, purpose, and can always keep the big picture in place, there is no limit to how positively you can change the world.”
The Artist & Composer
“I really do believe that if you can find whatever it is in your community that is crying out for help, I think it’s important to be able to try to incorporate that into your art.”
Devin speaks about contemporary and historical interactions between music and the art world, featuring two creative entrepreneurs that are paving the way in their respective fields, Contemporary visual artist Will Day, and composer Jonathan Bingham. Jonathan discusses his formative inspirations, including the music of John Williams.
Will Day barely survived the 9/11 attacks in tower two before becoming an architect and then visual artist. Their stories will inspire you to find the artist within, discard your fears, follow your passion, and find your life purpose.
Radical Love
Join writer and performer Dominique Christina, in a discussion which covers craft and performance, the etymologies of words, the importance of learning from past poets like Edgar Allen Poe and Beethoven, and the relationship between artists and politicians.
In additional to some amazing musical selections Dominique shares two of her more recent poems, It’s Morning and Praise Poem at the end of the episode.
“Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is to be still and listen, to be soft, to be nurturing, to be caring, to be empathetic, to keep your heart open, to keep your hands open. That’s radical stuff, it’s not the smashing of things, the breaking of things, the setting of fires, it’s not. The most radical stuff is to lead with love, to be human, to remain human, when there’s so many opportunities for you to be brutish, or disconnected from your heart, to remain available is radical.”
Carnegie Hall’s Link Up Rocks
Students in grades 3–5 are given the opportunity to join orchestras around the world in this highly participatory program called The Orchestra Rocks. 3000 students will join the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra where they learn to sing and play an instrument in the classroom and perform from their seats with the NFSO at a culminating concert at Mattie Kelly Arts Center.
Orchestras across the country and around the world are also taking part in Link Up. Partner orchestras can utilize any of the program materials—including teacher guides, student materials, concert scripts, and concert visuals—in their own communities.
