May Newsletter - 2026

TYJE at Essentially Ellington

Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble with director Gregg Gelb headed to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Festival & Competition this spring. Essentially Ellington is one of the most prestigious jazz events in the country and TYJE represented our TYM family in the biggest way! They worked with and played alongside members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, sat down for a Q&A with the legendary Wynton Marsalis, connected with musicians from the other top 19 bands in the nation, saw a bit of New York City too. 🗽

2026 Awards:

🏆 Outstanding Saxophone Section 

🏆 Outstanding Bass — Eli Beyer 

🏆 Honorable Mention Drums — Lilian Tao 

🏆 Outstanding Tenor Saxophone — Idan Ronen 

🏆 Outstanding Tenor Saxophone — Robert Jefferson 

🏆 Outstanding Trumpet — Aaron Kneubuhl

Congratulations to the these amazing musicians and their director Gregg Gelb!

Gabriela Lena Frank Workshop

As part of University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s "Festival on the Hill", Triangle Youth Philharmonic had the incredible honor of working directly with composer and 2026 Pulitzer-Prize winner Gabriela Lena Frank!

Our musicians are preparing Ms. Frank’s Three Latin American Dances for this weekend’s concert, and getting feedback straight from the source was incredible! From a deep-dive coaching session to a personal Q&A about her story and creative process, our students walked away inspired to perform and more knowledgeable about composing in today's world.

TYM Summer Camps

Summer camps are just around the corner! Register now before spaces fill up! Financial aid is available for all camps.

• Jazz Summer Camp: July 13th - July 17th; 9 AM - 4 PM at Price Music Center, NC State
• Wind Ensemble Summer Camp: July 20th - July 24th; 9 AM - 4 PM at Price Music Center, NC State
• String Summer Camp: July 27th - July 31st; half day or full day at Peace Presbyterian Church, Cary

TYO at Busch Gardens

In April, the Triangle Youth Orchestra with their director Tim Kohring traveled to Busch Gardens in Virginia to participate in the Music in the Parks program. After a full day of performing, riding roller coasters, and eating yummy snacks, we took home a First Place trophy! Congrats to our awesome TYO musicians!

Jazz Updates

Spring Jazz Concert

Our four jazz groups had their final concert a few weeks ago, and we are so proud of all of their hard work! We had a packed house for both performances at the Rialto Theatre in Raleigh, including special guest, Congresswoman Deborah Ross who took the time to do a Q&A with our musicians and tell them about some important music-related legislation. After some swinging tunes, a special guest tap dancer , and a heartfelt farewell to our graduating seniors, we closed out the afternoon with a big sendoff to TYJE before they traveled to NYC.

Thank you to all of the students, staff, volunteers, and parents that made such a wonderful and busy jazz season possible. We truly couldn't do it without you!

TYJB at the ECU Billy Taylor Jazz Festival

The Triangle Youth Jazz Band directed by Kobie Watkins took part in East Carolina University's Billy Taylor Jazz Festival with workshops, clinics, a Q&A with guest vocalist Cyrille Aimee, concerts and a jam session with ECU music students and students from Athens Drive High School Jazz Band! It was a great day full of jazz and learning! Thanks to Mr. Watkins for setting up this opportunity for our musicians.

Chamber Updates

Early this May, the TYP Woodwind Quintet visited the Frankie Lemmon school to present Woodwind Wonders, a sensory-friendly educational performance for an incredible audience of 2nd and 3rd grade students. All of our guests had a blast and learned a lot! We are excited to continue this partnership with Frankie Lemmon in the future. You can see our Woodwind Quintet this Sunday in the Meymandi Lobby before the TYP concert!

Chatham Spring Concert

We are so proud of our fourth and fifth grade violinists at Siler City Elementary School and Virginia Cross Elementary School! These musicians had their final spring performance recently, and got the opportunity to perform for an amazing audience filled with families and community members! 🎻

Thank you to our violin teachers, Miriam Bryant and Omar Ruiz-Lopez for their hard work on behalf of these students and the Chatham County Schools staff for their help in making it happen.