NEW YORK “SOUNDS OF SUMMER” FESTIVAL

Carnegie Hall

June 1 – 5, 2024 | June 7 – 11, 2025 (Dates TBC)

Thank you for considering the New York “Sounds of Summer” International Music Festival as your music performance tour. Its success is credited to fine musical ensembles that look for the best performance experience possible, and we strive to provide just that.

It is our mission to present young musicians with an experience that offers the opportunity for musical growth while creating lasting memories. To enhance this experience, the performance venue chosen for the festival is the prestigious Carnegie Hall. Admission into this festival is based on audition only and is limited to a maximum of four ensembles, each receiving 30 minutes of total stage time at Carnegie Hall. However, we encourage groups of varying abilities to apply as music education through live performance can be very beneficial to students at every stage of development.

ENSEMBLES: High School, college and community bands and orchestras.

DURATION: 5 days

ACCEPTANCE: In order to ensure a quality experience, the festival is limited to a maximum of four instrumental ensembles total. Groups that are denied entry based on available festival capacity will be given first priority in the following year.

VENUES: Carnegie Hall, Outdoor venue such as the Central Park Bandshell or Castle Clinton at Battery Park

FACULTY: Past faculty has included Dr. James Jordan – Rider University, Dr. Heather Buchannan – Montclair State University, Johan de Meij, Brian Worsdale – Manhattan School of Music, Dr. Dennis Johnson – Professor Emeritus from Murray State University.

AWARDS: This Festival is a non-adjudicated event. Each ensemble will receive a Festival Participation Plaque.

STATUS: Accepting applications for 2024 | Accepting applications for 2025

APPLY NOW  2024 Itinerary PDF  2025 Itinerary PDF  Concert Tickets


DAVIS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (2018)
“Our Trip was a fantastic opportunity for all the band and orchestra students to grow educationally and musically. We had the opportunity to engulf ourselves into the NYC artistic scene by attending a Broadway musical, listening to the NY Philharmonic in rehearsal, touring Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, tour the Museum of Modern Art, a clinic with a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, as well as a rehearsal, clinic, and performances in Brooklyn and at the world-famous Carnegie Hall. This was a transformative educational experience for all the participating students, parents, and directors.

Such an event needs a company with extensive experience and connections to make this happen. Kendra and World Projects made every aspect of the trip planning and execution an easy experience. Traveling with multiple instrumental ensembles (we had three) and the large contingent of people is not a simple task. The team from World Projects made this very simple and were, at all times, friendly, communicative, and effective in their making this trip a success. I am unable to find the words to adequately express how fortunate we were to have these professionals running our trip!”

– Thomas Slabaugh (Band Director)

“The NY, Carnegie Tour was a great success for both the DHS Symphony Orchestra and DHS Band students musically, socially, and educationally. It was a joy to witness the great inspiration they all experienced after giving the performance of a life time in Carnegie Hall. When you walk on that world class stage there is a moment when all the organization, fundraising, and logistic planning becomes well worth all the effort. Seeing your students engage as a team and embrace this life changing musical performance opportunity leaves you as a Director with a great sense of pride and renewed commitment to providing them only the best musical experiences possible.

It was a privilege to work with the World Projects team. They are highly professional, respectful, committed to your group’s success, and clearly take pride in their service. I highly recommend this tour experience and company to all the Directors that are considering a tour to NY, Carnegie Hall. World Projects made it simple and easy and were there supporting us every step of the process.

We thank all of our parent chaperones, parent volunteers throughout the year, family and community supporters who contributed financially, and all of our wonderful students who made this tour a grand success by representing our school music program and community in the most disciplined, committed, and respectful way. A huge thank you to World Projects for making this dream tour a reality.
Bravo to you all!”

– Angelo Moreno (Orchestra Director)

“As a lead chaperone, Kendra and staff were always around and helping. Whether I was texting her at midnight about the busses the next day or altering our schedule to better manage our students, they were always responsive. It didn’t matter what the subject World Projects staff went out of their way to help us. Without them we would have had failures more than once on the trip.”

– Rob Kerner (Head Chaperone)

“Traveling with a large group requires not only detailed organization, but also flexibility and excellent communication,
The entire five-star staff at World Projects met all of these criteria and more! Thank you for a smooth trip filled with great experiences and wonderful memories.”

– Helen Ma (Chaperone)

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