"I sincerely hope you will come back very soon to continue this great work. I want to personally thank each and every one of your young performers. I think often they cannot know how much they are helping with their effort."

Alessandro Ricciarelli
Music Therapist
Memorial Sloan-Kettering

New York Youth Symphony's Performances for Special Audiences are live performances by chamber music and jazz musicians for children at various facilities throughout Manhattan. This form of music therapy can improve overall rehabilitation of the therapy recipients and increase their motivation to become engaged in their treatment, depending on the nature of the disability.

This unique experience also enables our players to use their talents to make a difference in people's lives. Although the audience may not always be directly engaged in the performance, musicians understand the impact music can have on people.

The Programs

Performances are planned for the following facilities:

• Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center
  ESPC is a 136-bed nursing home in Manhattan for children with multiple disabilities.
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  Performances at this hospital in Manhattan will be given in the pediatric unit for children with cancer.
• St. Vincent's Hospital
  Ensembles will perform for the pediatric center.

Leading support for Performances for Special Audiences for the 2007-08 season has been provided by The Joseph F. McCrindle Foundation.

Members of Jazz Band Classic perform a set for children at the Elizabeth Seton Pediatrics Center.