Merit School of Music
NYC Tour 2008
April 10-13, 2008

On April 10, 2008, ninety-two student musicians from Merit’s Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-free Conservatory embarked on a four-day/three-night tour of New York City. Highlights of the tour included performances at Washington Irving High School and the New York Society for Ethical Culture, masterclasses and clinics at Lucy Moses School and the Third Street Settlement School, in addition to sightseeing, a Broadway play and a performance of the New York Philharmonic.
 
While on tour, students attended masterclasses and clinics with some of the finest artists and ensembles in New York, including Alan Baer, principal tuba in the New York Philharmonic; Grammy-award winning trumpeter Bryan Lynch with legendary percussionist Little Johnny Rivero; Merit alumna and faculty member at Manhattan School of Music, Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos; and Anthony McGill, Merit alumnus and principal clarinet in the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
 
Over the course of four days our students:

• Spent 84 hours in New York
• Spent 22 hours performing or attending performances
• Visited or performed in 7 different venues
• Played for or saw 10 international artists
• Spent 15 hours sightseeing
• Ate 25 pounds of corned beef at Carnegie Deli
• Slept 20 hours (or less)
• Spotted 3 celebrities