Noah A. ’23 Selected for Carnegie Hall’s NYO Jazz

April 11, 2023

We are proud to share that Noah A. ’23 has been selected for Carnegie Hall’s NYO (National Youth Orchestra) Jazz ensemble! NYO Jazz features incredible musicians between the ages of 16–19 from across the United States, and as Carnegie Hall describes, it “showcases the legacy and bright future of American jazz.” Under the leadership of the great trumpeter and Artistic Director Sean Jones, Noah and his fellow NYO Jazz musicians will gather this summer for a rigorous training residency before performing a concert at Carnegie Hall and then embarking on a performance tour to some of Europe’s leading music festivals. Grammy-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will join them as a special guest for the concerts.

“It feels amazing,” Noah said of being selected as a trumpeter for NYO Jazz. “I’m just so blessed, privileged, and honored to be able to be in the same realm as such great musicians and under the supervision of Sean Jones and Dee Dee Bridgewater, who are two musicians that I grew up listening to and are people that I really admire.”

Noah has made a huge musical impact himself during his time at Wheeler. You can hear from a few of his classmates–as well as Noah–in this video profile:

”When you choose to pursue a career in the music business, one of the character traits you must have is selflessness and determination. Noah has both, and he consistently shows our community what that looks like in the most graceful and selfless manner,” said Upper School Jazz Music Teacher Francisco Cardoso P’32. “I have been touring all over the world and shared lots of stories with Noah about some great adventures. With his ambitions comes a great responsibility of sharing this beautiful art form as a global and humanitarian citizen all over the world. This is just the beginning of a beautiful journey he will have. I know he will enjoy every second of this adventure with some heavyweights to challenge him to continue to get better at his craft.”

Noah said he is grateful to Francisco for helping him navigate the NYO Jazz application process and also expressed his appreciation to God, his parents, and everyone else who has supported him musically. Now, he’s eager to meet the other gifted NYO Jazz musicians who–to this point–he has seen perform only through Instagram. “Everybody is just so good,” he said. “I’m really excited to play with them. Touring the world is definitely something that I want to do in my life, and just being able to do it at such a young age with other people that are my age is such an amazing opportunity. I cannot wait!”

After his NYO Jazz experience concludes this summer, Noah will continue his music education at Berklee College of Music beginning in the fall.

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