The Room Changed When the Music Started

Many people in The City Tutors community walked into the Church of St Paul and St Andrew on January 30 without knowing what to expect.

City Tutors had been invited to attend Evolution & Revolution, a concert presented by the NYC Orchestra Project. Forty members of our community were in the audience: young professionals, CUNY students and recent graduates, couples who made a night of it, and a mother who brought her son. They came from different schools, different programs, different paths. For many, it was their first time hearing an orchestra live.

Before the music began, the conductor, Gabriel Levy, explained what the audience was about to hear. As he spoke, attention gathered and eyes moved to the stage, taking in the scene.

Most people, when picturing an orchestra, think about a concert hall, a distant stage, and audience members in fancy attire. A sense of unattainability. That Friday night, however, NYC Orchestra Project presented music in an approachable, attainable, but truly inspiring way. The musicians on stage looked young, and they were. Mot were a collection of players from across different schools, some still in school themselves, and all led by Levy, a student himself. The audience took this all in instantly.

With the first note of Mayer’s Faust Overture, the atmosphere changed. People stopped adjusting in their seats. Perhaps they had expected to hear a student orchestra, led by students, but in that moment they knew they were mistaken. Whatever expectations had formed dissolved as the music moved forward, and the audience moved with it, focused and fully present. 

Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 followed, a familiar work for some, but brand new for others. It was an exciting piece, filled with energy and enthusiasm. Its triumphant conclusion led to a brief intermission, which was followed by the real core of the concert, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10. 

An audience member later recalled that it was so easy to lose oneself in this piece. Levy’s skilled hands led the musicians to create a scene that was so poignant she could almost see it. She felt transported, and only at the symphony’s dramatic close did she recall where she was. Many said this closeness between the music, the musicians, and those experiencing it was what separated this concert experience from any others they had been to. They preferred this intimacy, which could never be replicated in any big concert hall. 

After the final applause, people stayed. Some watched musicians pack away instruments. Others gathered for photos, lingering as if the evening had given them something they wanted to keep. That was the experience of the night. A serious orchestra performance, shared by a wide cross section of the City Tutors community, and strong enough to give first-time listeners a reference of their own.