The program, titled “Into the Blue and Beyond,” featured music inspired by the sky and outer space. Unique to this ensemble, all selections were chosen and arranged by the students, allowing them to highlight their artistic voices while creating arrangements tailored to the EMA’s distinctive instrumentation.

Performing members included Tess Trayner, Patrick Davison, Eliot Morris, Doug Baker, Hashini Amarasinghe, Jake Sherman, Micah Cabot, Mindy Monroe, Noah Raney, Xie Atkinson and Anthony Hotakainen. Maya Cohen supported the tour as the ensemble’s live sound technician, ensuring each performance delivered a polished and professional experience.

In addition to sharing their music, ensemble members participated in lively question-and-answer sessions following each performance. High school audiences asked about life at ������Ƶ, pathways in music, and what it means to pursue the arts in college—conversations that created meaningful connections and offered students valuable insight into collegiate music study.

The Thanksgiving break tour not only showcased the students’ musical excellence but also their dedication to community engagement and arts education. The ������Ƶ Music Ambassadors ensemble looks forward to continuing its mission of inspiring young musicians across the region.

The ensemble presented “Anthems of Social Change,” a program featuring music that has historically confronted injustice, inspired social movements and fostered unity across cultures and generations. Audiences experienced a dynamic selection of anti-war songs from the Civil Rights Movement, protest music from Ireland, Ukraine, and Panama, and contemporary works addressing today’s most pressing social issues. Each piece was carefully selected and arranged by the students, customized to highlight the unique instrumentation of the ensemble.

Members of the ������Ƶ Music Ambassadors who participated in the tour included Julian Brown, Peter Collins, Grace Chester, Tess Trayner, Kate Rivera, Noah Raney, Anthony Hotakainen, Ella Nagel, Erik Houck, Hashini Amarasinghe, Laker Figueroa and Maya Cohen.

At the conclusion of each performance, the students led a question-and-answer session with the high school audiences discussing the music performed and providing information about ������Ƶ and careers in music.

The group featured American jazz standards arranged for saxophone quartet. Other members of the quartet included Christine Hankins, Jason Saetta and ������Ƶ alumnus Brian Magna '15.

Novine Whittaker also presented a master class entitled, "Developing Your Unique Sound and Style".

The presentation included an overview of undergraduate music programs in the U.S., suggestions for international students who are interested in auditioning for college-level music programs and examples of careers opportunities with an undergraduate music degree. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion with educators representing music programs from around the globe. 

The translation was provided by Antonio Vanni, academic director, Accademia Europea di Firenze.

Beginning with rehearsals at Accademia Europa di Firenze, these talented musicians, under the direction of Virginia Novine Whittaker, created a dynamic program of Funk, Jazz and Blues. The ������Ƶ Music Ambassadors performed on popular outdoor stages in Florence, Italy.

The highlight of the tour was their  peformance on a featured stage at the JazzIt Interational Music festival, which took place in a beautiful, small town in the south of Italy, Montegrosso. The students also attended inpirational performances and presentations by well known artists during the three-day festival event.

The ������Ƶ Music Ambassadors instrumental and vocal ensemble under the direction of Virginia Novine Whittaker performed for high school audiences in Bethesda and Bel Air in Maryland during Thanksgiving break.

The program entitled “Open Mic, Performers Pic” featured personal favorites of the ensemble members. All of the music for the program was chosen and arranged by the students in the class and tailored for the unique instrumentation of the ensemble.

The students in the ensemble include Rachel Clevenger, Brandon Atwell, Andrew Trautmann, Tara Uncles, Tanner Mead, Andrew McGann, Rachel Hopkins, Lauren Fisher, Haley Hostetter and Jay Faires. Luke Buck served as the live sound technician. 

Following each performance, the students participated in a question-and-answer session with the high school audiences to answer questions about ������Ƶ, music careers and music in general.

The ������Ƶ Music Ambassadors program, “Open Mic, Performer’s Pick,” will be performed on the ������Ƶ campus, Sunday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Yeager Recital Hall. The performance is free and open to the public.

Come to the Music Department Fair on Friday, Nov. 3, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on the Lakeside Plaza. We will have live performances and snacks. Music faculty will be available to say hello and to let you know about exciting opportunities for music lovers to be involved in music at ������Ƶ!

Their program entitled, “A Celebration of Music in Film,” featured selections representing a variety of film genres as well as musical genres. All of the music for the program was chosen and arranged by the students in the class, and tailored for the unique instrumentation of the ensemble.

The students in the ensemble are all music majors and include Rachel Clevenger, Brandon Atwell, Andrew Trautmann, Tara Uncles, Matthew Clanton, Mike Hagen, Joshua Scovern, Rachel Hopkins, Lauren Fisher and David Williams. Isaac Bates served as the live sound technician. Following each performance, the students participated in a question and answer session with the high school audiences to answer questions about ������Ƶ, music careers and music in general.

The ������Ƶ Music Ambassadors program, “A Celebration of Music in Film,” will be performed on the ������Ƶ campus, Thursday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Yeager Recital Hall. The performance is free and open to the public.

Virginia Novine Whittaker was an invited guest presenter at the Jazzit Festival in Cumiana, Italy on June 25, 2016. Novine Whittaker, with the aid of a translator, conducted a master class focusing on specific techniques to improve tone and create stylistic inflections on the saxophone. Young saxophonists attending the presentation, participated as volunteers allowing her to demonstrate her teaching techniques for the audience members.

The Jazzit festival is an annual international music festival that attracts musicians, artists, industry specialists and audience members from across Italy and around the globe.

The most recent performance tour from May 17-20, 2015, included performances for four high school audiences. Each performance was enthusiastically received and followed by a question-and-answer session providing the interested students with information about ������Ƶ and all aspects of the music department.  

This marks the ninth performance tour since Novine Whittaker founded the ensemble in Fall 2011. To date, the ������Ƶ Music Ambassadors have performed for over 44 different high school audiences from Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey.

The Spring 2015 ������Ƶ Music Ambassadors include Kirby Vuocolo (trumpet, horn), Jack Garno (guitar/bass/vocals), Dylan Fitchett (guitar/bass), Brian Magna (saxophone),  Lianna Mills (flute), Brandon Atwell (percussion),  Caitlyn Balkcum (lead vocals), Justin Pierce (trombone), James Crooks (sound production),  Nicole Payne (piano/vocals), Spencer Clarke (vocals, sound production) and Mike Hagen (percussion).