Elk Grove teen will play Carnegie Hall in youth orchestra program. ‘I’ll definitely study’

Carnegie Hall, one of the most prestigious music venues in the world, invites some of the best young musicians in the country to participate in its annual National Youth Orchestra, a free four-week summer program that aims to provide exposure to classical musicians by giving them the opportunity to perform worldwide.

For the second year in a row, Elk Grove will be represented by Benjamin Jiang at Carnegie Hall. He’ll be playing with the 2024 National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.

A 16-year-old Cosumnes Oaks High School junior, Jiang is one of 103 young musicians selected from across the country to participate in the program.

Jiang will join young musicians from different programs, Carnegie Hall said in a news release. The orchestra includes 15 musicians who previously played with NYO-USA, intended for those ages 16 to 19, and 30 who gained experience through NYO2 – a program for players ages 14 to 17. Jiang performed with NYO2 last year.

Jiang will be playing the cello during performances. However, he’s been musically inclined for the last decade, and he first began playing a different instrument.

“I started with piano and then I switched over to cello maybe a couple of years after I started,” Jiang said. “For a long time I kind of split my focus equally, on both instruments. I just thought both had their unique opportunities to offer me.”

Those opportunities turned into performances for school orchestras and regional orchestras, where he has found huge success.

Some of Jiang’s notable accomplishments have been winning the American String Teachers Association’s Solo Competition in Sacramento and the Classical Masters Music Festival, and finishing as a Music Teachers Association Competition recital finalist. He’s performed as a soloist in local symphonies, most recently with the Auburn Symphony Young Arts Competition, where he took second place in 2019.

He’s won a United States Open Music Competition, United States International Music Competition and Bellagrande International Music Competition.

Jiang said performing and being involved is how he found out about the opportunity with Carnegie Hall and the National Youth Orchestra program.

“Currently I participate in the San Francisco Symphony (Youth) Orchestra, and so I have a couple of older friends who recommended the program to me,” Jiang said.

Carnegie Hall announced that the musicians will travel to New York in late July for an intensive two-week training residency at Purchase College, State University of New York, according to a news release.

Jiang and the other musicians will then perform in an orchestra at the annual Carnegie Hall concert during World Orchestra Week in August.

Carnegie Hall’s executive and artistic director, Clive Gillinson, said in a statement that he is “thrilled” to have such a talented group of musicians come together for NYO-USA.

“These superb players will come together to train with some of the leading professional musicians in the country,” Gillinson said. “The members of NYO-USA will represent the best of America as musical performers and as cultural ambassadors, both in New York during the festival and on tour.”

An ‘extremely humble’ musician

Gabe Carpenter taught Jiang in his AP Music Theory class at Cosumnes Oaks. Carpenter said he was very impressed with Jiang as a classmate and musician.

“Benjamin is a quiet but attentive student who is incredibly easy to teach and is kind (and helpful) to his peers,” Carpenter said in an email to The Sacramento Bee. “He is an incredible musician who is comparable to professionals...he has incredible musical ears and has a natural knack for hearing melodies and harmonies. I admire the fact that he is extremely humble despite continuously winning awards.”

Jiang, who was admitted to the NYO program after his NYO2 experience, described it as “really cool” and “inspiring.”

He was stoked to gain experience working with professional faculty and professional orchestra players from across the U.S.

“I think for starters just meeting so many people from across the country who are similar minded and who are so passionate about music,” Jiang said. “(People) who are bringing in the local traditions and their like local ways of thinking about music and their local interpretations.”

Jiang said he thanks his parents for their support of him over the years and ushering him into music.

“(They introduced) me to my first orchestral experience and just introduced me to piano and cello for the first time and they’ve helped support me on my orchestral journey,” Jiang said. “I’ve been in a couple of different orchestras over the years and that’s kind of helped lead me on the path to the National Youth Orchestra. So I have to say a huge thank you to them.”

Traveling the world

One aspect Jiang said was “definitely a highlight of the program” was the touring to different parts of the world.

“As NYO2, I went to the Dominican Republic last summer,” Jiang said. “I thought it was just really inspiring to get to meet some of the Dominican musicians who are my age and who also studied in some of the music programs. I just thought music was really, kind of central to their culture and their society. I just thought it was inspiring to see their native dances.”

This summer, Jiang is looking forward to working with a different set of peers and faculty and traveling, especially to explore different parts of South American culture.

World Orchestra Week, the August festival, celebrates international youth orchestras. There will be a massive play-in event including about 700 young musicians, the Carnegie Hall news release said.

The musicians will perform alongside the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela, the Africa United Youth Orchestra, the Beijing Youth Symphony Orchestra, the European Union Youth Orchestra and the Afghan Youth Orchestra.

Following World Orchestra Week, the musicians will go on a South American tour which includes stops in Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and more.

According to Carnegie Hall’s news release, the orchestra will perform Barber’s Symphony No. 1, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with Jean-Yves Thibaudet as soloist, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.

Leading up to the summer, Jiang plans to practice the music and prepare for the trip abroad. Jiang said he focuses on his craft every day, practicing anywhere from two to four hours.

“I believe NYO will schedule an online lesson with the cello faculty there so I’ll prepare for that,” Jiang said. “I’ll definitely study the music, prepare for the tour, maybe prepare to sightsee a little bit and participate in cultural exchanges.”

When Jiang isn’t playing music, he enjoys trying and cooking new foods, exploring California’s nature reserves and binging documentaries and comedies.

“It’s kind of a nice change of mind and it helps me stay inspired on my musical journey,” Jiang said.

Jiang said he has not yet decided on what his future plans entail or whether music is included in those endeavors.

“I might continue my music studies at a conservatory or in a college music program,” Jiang said.

However his focus, for now, is on the anticipation for the NYO program and all the traveling he’s going to do. He hopes his musical skills will continue to take him to a variety of places and gain a multitude of experiences.