Popular Yamaha Junior Original Concert Series Returns To NAMM

ANAHEIM, Calif.—The Yamaha Music Education System will present its perennially captivating Junior Original Concert (JOC) on Thursday, January 19. For the first time, the young musicians will perform at two NAMM venues: 8:30 a.m. at the NAMMU Dealer Breakfast in the Pacific Ballroom, Hilton Anaheim Hotel and 1:00 p.m. at the Yamaha Booth, Keyboard Division area, Marquis Ballroom at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel. All NAMM attendees are invited to enjoy the free 1 p.m. concert event, which will feature young talented Yamaha Music School students performing their own original compositions.

Nine-year-old Alexander Hurvitz, a student at Harmony Music World, Fullerton, Calif., will perform his original piano solo composition, "Pushy Cat and Nutty Squirrels." Chloe Li, also age 9 and a JSAC student at the Irvine Yamaha Music Center, will play the Clavinova CVP-509 in her original ensemble composition, "First Flight." Chloe will play along with percussionists Dominic Primo, Sarah Chen and Lauren Chen, as well as her sister Claire Li, who will be performing on a second CVP-509. Sharon Hurvitz, age 13, a JSAC Graduate and student at Harmony Music World in Fullerton, Calif., will perform her original composition, "Winter Rhapsody," on the piano, accompanied by violinist Avi Nagin and Cellist Natalie Helm.

The Yamaha Music Education System offers six music courses for children between the ages of three and ten. Classes are held weekly, covering everything from listening skills to keyboard performance. The program began in the mid-1950s in Japan under the direction of Mr. Genichi Kawakami, President of Nippon-Gakki Company, Ltd. (today's Yamaha Corporation). Mr. Kawakami believed his company was responsible not only for making a quality product, but also for teaching customers how to use it. Consequently, he established the non-profit Yamaha Music Foundation (YMF) in 1966 for the purpose of developing and promoting music education and music popularization activities internationally.

YMF guides the worldwide development of the Yamaha Music Education System and also sponsors international events such as the Junior Original Concert (JOC). In the United States, the Music Education Division of Yamaha Corporation of America works in cooperation with Yamaha Music Foundation to design new courses, improve instructional quality, and refine existing programs.

For more information, visit Yamaha Corporation of America at Winter NAMM 2012 in the Marquis Ballroom at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel; write Yamaha Corporation of America, Yamaha Music Education System; P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail ymes@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com.