Lifting young performers to an Astral plane

Brilliant musical talent alone simply isn't enough. It's a harsh reality, but one that Philadelphia knows well.

Our local conservatories shape and graduate some of the most gifted young artists in the world, yet only a handful become well-known performers. For many, gaining a lifetime spot in a major orchestra like our own is the pinnacle.

But every one of a musician's thousands of hours of practice is touched by dreams of a solo career. And that requires another kind of training, best served by personal mentoring.

Young talents need practical experience and performing opportunities, lessons in stage presence and repertoire choices if they want to become in-demand artists represented by major presenting agencies.

Over the last 15 years, Astral Artistic Services has provided that aid to 52 fortunate young musicians, providing counsel, chances to play and the occasional exposure to booking agents.

Five celebrated alumni and eight musicians on the current roster will perform at Astral's 15th anniversary celebration Sunday, a tribute to the stamina and dedication of its founder, Vera Wilson.

Wilson vividly recalls coming up with the idea for Astral while attending a youth orchestra rehearsal at age 17 in her native Buenos Aires, Argentina. She said she was "blown away" by the talent of the musicians but couldn't help wondering who would guide the young artists' careers.

Her desire to make a difference was placed on temporary hold by marriage, three children and moves to Australia, England and, finally, Philadelphia.

Here, as director of public relations and audience development for the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia (now the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia) and their annual young artists competition, and as a volunteer at the Curtis Institute, she came in contact with a world of young and talented players.

"They had a million unanswered questions," Wilson recalled recently, "and I found that nobody gives them the greatest gift of time, the clues to finding the next steps in their careers. So I began Astral Services."

Astral mentors the artists on career-building and also pays them for performances it arranges.

"We present them in every possible opportunity, as soloists and chamber players, and teach them the importance of communicating with the community," Wilson said. "They may play in schools or retirement locations, so they learn how to speak and introduce their piece in an age-appropriate manner, conveying the message of music."

Of course, funding this mentoring program is a constant struggle, but Wilson's passion has spread to some loyal donors and an enthusiastic board, whose members realize the importance of supporting the musicians. Astral's small staff is housed in an office on the Avenue of the Arts in a building between the Merriam Theater and the Academy of Music.

Typically, 150 to 160 artists apply every year, with judging panels for each family of instruments hearing recordings and selecting from those for a live audition. Only five or six artists are chosen, usually. Some years there are none. The largest group so far has been eight.

There was no competition this year, as Astral chose to concentrate on its current, large roster of 22 musicians.

Artists are often reluctant to cut ties to this nurturing entity, so Astral often has to decide - sometimes after seven or eight years - that musicians are ready to handle their own careers.

Several important connections have grown out of Astral's commitment to young musicians.

Astral's vocal-judging panel has been used by the Marian Anderson Award to choose their prize winners and administer the award. Occasionally an Astral artist is the winner, such as contralto Meredith Arwady, a Curtis graduate who has appeared with the Opera Company of Philadelphia and, splendidly this summer, with the Santa Fe Opera.

And there's the annual concert with the Symphony in C (previously the Haddonfield Symphony), which allows Astral artists the golden opportunity to solo with an orchestra. Conductor Rossen Milanov suggested the collaboration to Wilson, and it's become a major event of the local season.

Many Astral artists have gone on to major careers. Mount Airy bass-baritone Eric Owens - a Curtis graduate who had an opportunity to sing lieder with Astral as well as opera - became a star last year in the controversial opera "Grendel." He's also on Astral's board of directors.

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein took a chance playing the difficult Bach Goldberg Variations at her Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Hall, but it led to a lauded Telarc recording and widespread recognition.

Astral artists have come from Curtis, the Academy of Vocal Arts, Temple University and Settlement School, as well as Juilliard, Oberlin and the New England Conservatory.

Many are fixtures on our local stages, like the string group Time for Three, pianists Natalie Zhu and Marcantonio Barone, violinists Soovin Kim and Judith Ingolffson, flutist Mimi Stillman, guitarist Jason Vieaux and Met soprano Indra Thomas.

There are other nonprofit management organizations, but Astral is unique since it is neither a management nor a booking agency, though it does advise its clients in the increasingly difficult task of finding an agent.

Astral's founder doesn't consider it a music school, either.

"We don't get involved in the training," said Wilson, "because by the time we take them on, their schools have taken care of that. But you'll hear artists whose names you don't know in our discovery series, and you'll soon be able to say you heard them when!

"I'm very proud that Eric Owens is willing to serve on our board, and that Soovin Kim said he urged his own students to apply to the organization that he entrusted his future to.

"Fifteen years is not such a long time to celebrate, but for Astral those years have been well-spent and have produced some wonderful artists that should be the pride of our city and the world," Wilson said. "Our aim has always been to make Astral into that recognized sieve that has already tested all these artists, and whose judgment can be considered significant.

"In these tough times for nonprofits and classical music, it's worthy of celebration that we have made a contribution." *

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