The Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA), founded and led by CSUDH Department of Music faculty member Charles “Chuck” Dickerson, performed on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage in Washington, DC, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. The event was livestreamed on the center’s website.
The performance was part of the prestigious venue’s “Social Impact” series, which offers free events several times a month to “reduce barriers to participation in the arts, celebrate the human spirit, and encourage intercultural understanding.”
Founded in 2009, the ICYOLA seeks to transform the lives and minds of local young people through high quality music education, providing opportunities for them to perform music in the most magnificent settings of our community. The ICYOLA has served as the official orchestra of CSUDH since 2017.
Dickerson, supervisor of Special Ensembles in the CSUDH Music Department and executive director and conductor of the ICYOLA, was excited about bringing the group to the nation’s capital.
“The essence of education is that it expands our horizons,” says Dickerson. “This is a special event for our students because it uniquely expands the horizons of our players. Of course, just to play in an iconic venue like the Kennedy Center is something special. But there are also lots of more basic elements that will make this trip a special experience for our students.”
For many of the students, this trip was their first time visiting Washington, DC. They visited the U.S. Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, as well as seeing the White House and meeting local congressional representatives.
“This is an event that has expanded the horizons of the students in the orchestra beyond anything that they have likely even dreamed,” says Dickerson. “Providing these kinds of experiences to our students is one of the fundamental reasons why CSUDH exists.”
ICYOLA typically presents a season of concerts every year, which culminates each July with a finale at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. After the 2023 finale, CSUDH President Thomas Parham proposed the idea of the orchestra presenting a concert at the Kennedy Center as part of the effort to expand the visibility of CSUDH and the ICYOLA nationally. This was their first performance at the venue.
Although the event was a special one, Dickerson advised his students to treat it like every other performance. “We always prepare to perform our best,” he says, “whether the venue is Disney Hall, the Kennedy Center, or a street corner where we gather to remember the life of a cherished member of our community. I will tell them what I always tell them: do your best, honor your craft, and respect yourself with your performance.”
The Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles’ performance at the Kennedy Center can be viewed on the Kennedy Center website.
