It's incredible to speak with Helen Cha-Pyo because she is so filled with joy and wisdom.  Her optimism about the next generation of humans is inspiring, as is her mission and story. This is a feel-good episode if I've ever recorded one! 

What is YOUR artistic mission statement? You'll want to lean into this question as you listen to Helen's story!

Helen H. Cha-Pyo, the current Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts, leads an organization that serves nearly 2,000 students from 12 New Jersey counties. Her impactful leadership spans across four key programs: the Wharton Performing Arts School, New Jersey Youth Symphony, New Jersey Youth Chorus, and the Paterson Music Project. In her role as the Principal Conductor of the New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS), she has led tours to Italy and France, championing the performance of works by women and BIPOC composers, effectively amplifying the voices of underrepresented composers. Under her guidance, NJYS had the distinguished honor of performing at the Juneteenth Celebration concert at Carnegie Hall (2022) and the Motif Award Ceremony at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (2023). 

Prior to her role at Wharton Arts, Cha-Pyo served as Music Director and Conductor of the Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO) for 16 years. Her tenure was marked by the orchestra's transformative international tours to Germany, Czech Republic, China, Korea and Portugal. Her dedication to promoting works by American composers earned ESYO the prestigious ASCAP's Adventurous Programming Awards. Her positive impact extended to the founding of ESYO CHIME in 2015, a program dedicated to serving underprivileged youth in Schenectady and Troy, NY. In 2018, ESYO introduced the Helen Cha-Pyo Golden Baton Award and Scholarships to honor students who shared her passion for using music to uplift and enrich communities. 

Cha-Pyo's contributions have been recognized with prestigious awards, including The Dove Leadership Award from the David & Dovetta Wilson Scholarship Fund in 2019, and the Angelos Artist Award from the Angelos Mission Ensemble in 2022. She was further honored with the Eastman Centennial Award from the Eastman School of Music in the same year. 

You can check out Wharton Arts at its website, or follow Helen Cha-Pyo at her website, Facebook, or Instagram.

 

Psst - I’m entering my pre-launch phase for the Happiest Musician Accelerator, a three month group program designed to help classical musicians uncap their income and thrive in their creative careers. If you have been feeling like there’s MORE out there for you - but something is keeping you stuck?  I’d love to speak with you. I have secret early-enrollment offers that are only available this week and next - email me or hop on a discovery call to find out more. 

 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music and audio editing by DreamVance.

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I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there!