Dwight Students from New York, London, and Seoul Perform to Sold-Out Carnegie Hall

NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Two hundred Dwight students from around the world gathered last Friday to perform a special concert entitled "Tutti" at Carnegie Hall, launching an annual event designed to bring together Dwight students in grades 4-12 from three continents to collaborate as artists and share the universal language of music.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140204/NY58756) 

The Dwight Schools, a network of leading International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools with programs and campuses in New York, London, Seoul, Beijing, and on Vancouver Island, is committed to educating the next generation of innovative global leaders.

With 2,000 students and 500 faculty representing over 40 nationalities, The Dwight Schools share one mission: to craft a personalized journey to success for each student based on individual talents and passions, or "spark of genius." Some highly accomplished Dwight instrumentalists and singers demonstrated their musical spark of genius before the sold-out Zankel Hall audience at Carnegie Hall, including Dwight School students in New York:

• Elli Choi '20, who began violin studies at age three and only a year later was invited to the Suzuki Method World Convention. A soloist at age five, and student in the Pre-College Division of The Juilliard School by age seven, she is now a seasoned performer with world-renowned youth and professional orchestras at age 11; and winner of numerous honors, including selection as a Prizewinner 2013 of the International Summer Academie Mozarteum, Salzburger Festspiel. Ms. Choi is the youngest recipient of an instrument from the Stradivari Society in Chicago; she plays a three-quarter-sized violin made by Joseph Rocca in Turin, Italy, in 1852.
  
  Ms. Choi said, "I was excited to play for the first time on the beautiful Zankel Hall stage for two reasons: because the acoustics there are so good plus it was the first time that I got to play for my Dwight friends and teachers!"
   
  
• Andrew Abrahamsen '14, an accomplished pianist and music composer whose original piece "Sanctuary," a modern-classical composition for piano, flute, and strings debuted at Carnegie Hall. He accompanied the professional musicians on piano. "Sanctuary" grew out of a project for his IB Diploma in Music Concentration, where he first created an unconventional chord progression based on the shapes of chords and later added a melody. After college, Mr. Abrahamsen, age 17, wants to compose music for orchestras and theater.
  
  "I was thrilled to be at Carnegie Hall," Mr. Abrahamsen said. "Countless hours of inspirational work, collaboration with teachers and fellow musicians had finally brought me back to the stage I love. I can still hear the first notes from my piano as the strings swelled in and the flute sang. The applause confirmed we had done well. I felt joy and relief. Thank you everyone for helping me realize my dream."

"The signs of great talent are already there among some of our youngest students," said Alistair Hamilton, Dwight School's Musical Director. "As a school, we take pride in all of our students' abilities and draw great satisfaction in bringing students from London and Seoul together with those in New York to celebrate the collective musical talents of Dwight's international student body. As IB students, each and every one is encouraged to explore diversity, collaborate as artists, and to participate and perform in ensembles. What could be more exciting than to share this experience in Carnegie Hall?"   

"Dwight is proud of its unique ability to offer students a wide range of educational, athletic, and artistic one-of-a-kind experiences, such as performing on the same stage where some of the world's leading performers have launched their professional careers," said Dianne Drew, Head of Dwight School. "Since we began this program more than a decade ago, nearly 1,000 Dwight students have participated. We are pleased that some are pursuing musical careers with great success ― and all can draw on this early experience as a watershed moment in their lives no matter their chosen career."

To see students preparing for their Carnegie Hall concert, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbU-A4viwAw&feature=youtu.be

More About Dwight School
Founded in 1872 and located on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Dwight is dedicated to educating the innovative global leaders of tomorrow. It was the first school in the U.S. to offer the comprehensive IB curriculum for students from preschool through grade 12. A Dwight world-class education rests on three pillars: personalized learning, community, and global vision. Graduates attend such leading colleges and universities worldwide as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, NYU, Oxford, and the University of Edinburgh.

Contact
Laurie Silbersweig
646.400.0319
[email protected]

SOURCE Dwight School