Works in Progress concerts help young musicians ‘work out the kinks’

Even though she finds it “fun to play in front of a live audience,” 15-year old Olivia Bozuhoski says it can be pretty nerve-wracking, too.

The Riverhead Music Boosters club has started a brand new program this year for students like Olivia and other talented young musicians to help them get over those cases of the nerves. The Works in Progress concerts offer performers in grades 5 – 12 the opportunity to play in a very low-pressure setting before having to play in front of a judge at an audition or a competition. There have already been three successful WIP concerts held this season at the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall. Two more concerts are planned at the Jamesport Meeting House in the next couple of weeks.

Olivia is a very self-possessed freshman at Riverhead High School who is deeply involved in music. She’s been playing the flute for five years. She currently plays third chair in the ninth and tenth-grade bands at the high school and also performs in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra in New Hyde Park to which one of her parents drives her every Monday night for practice.

For her, WIP is an opportunity to practice her NYSSMA solos before having to play for a NYSSMA ranking. Playing in front of an audience helps her by showing her “what needs work – sometimes the dynamics don’t sound right, sometimes the tempo is off.” The WIP concerts have helped her “learn to control her nerves playing in front of people,” she said in a phone interview.

Yasmine Kocan, a 15-year-old sophomore at Riverhead High School, has played the cello for four and a half years. She, too, is deeply rooted in the music world. This weekend she is playing first chair at Carnegie Hall – and, more impressively, it’s her third time playing the venue. She also plays in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra.

She feels that not only is it “fun to play in front of a live audience, but the connection to the audience and its energy helps me to play better.” Yasmine is planning to major in music in college and is using the Works in Progress concerts to help her “suppress her nerves and prepare for college admission auditions.”

The best part of it, says Yasmine is that it’s “really, really a good environment to play in because there’s no pressure to be perfect. It’s just a great place to work out the kinks in a piece if you’re having trouble with it.”

Meghan Brunner, 18, is a Riverhead High School senior who plays both violin and piano. Outside of school, she has been a member of the Music Masters at East End Arts for the past three years in the Chamber Choir and Chamber Orchestra.

Meghan enjoys being able to play whatever she likes at WIP. When asked why she isn’t practicing a specific piece, she explained that she’s already had her college auditions, so she has fewer restraints on her choices. She’ll be attending SUNY Fredonia in the fall to major in music therapy.

Meghan likes the supportive atmosphere at the WIP concerts. She’ll be playing a duet with Yasmine; they’ll be performing Clair de Lune – the same piece she played for her college admission audition. Her one regret is that she “wishes she had had the opportunity to participate in WIP earlier.  It’s a brand new program this year, and I wish it had been around for more years.”

Groups of musicians also play in the WIP concerts. There’s a jazz band, a chamber orchestra and many more solo performers, too.

There are two more Works in Progress concerts planned for this season at the Jamesport Meeting House on Saturday, May 14 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 22 at 2 p.m.