"Fostering music students of all ages, the Young Musicians of Minnesota have partnered with the Minnesota Orchestral Association to serve the community and advocate the importance of having classical music in our state. To fulfill this mission, YMM inspires its members to grow in their artistic appreciation by supplying them with a variety of free opportunities such as music and outreach programs, volunteering, and performing."
The Young Musicians of Minnesota (YMM), is a student-led and operated organization, consisting middle school through college graduate music students from across the state who have bound together to preserve and promote classical music throughout the state. With YMM being student-led, students are taking on roles such as conductor, orchestra manager, logistics advisor, concert event manager, and as performing musicians.
YMM serves as a gateway to the professional music world, believing in offering students opportunities to challenge themselves, grow in their musical leadership and technical abilities, develop a greater appreciation for classical music, and work alongside professionals, all for no cost. YMM members have held a presence in the community through filming our own YouTube video, participating in rallies, performing at the Minnesota State Fair, Orchestrate Excellence forums, our own youth orchestra concerts, chamber performances in the Orchestra Hall lobby, and as well as at We Day Minnesota 2013 (which is an educational event and movement of our time—a movement of young people leading local and global change).
To become a member, simply contact us to get involved in the movement!
The Young Musicians of Minnesota (YMM), is a student-led and operated organization, consisting middle school through college graduate music students from across the state who have bound together to preserve and promote classical music throughout the state. With YMM being student-led, students are taking on roles such as conductor, orchestra manager, logistics advisor, concert event manager, and as performing musicians.
YMM serves as a gateway to the professional music world, believing in offering students opportunities to challenge themselves, grow in their musical leadership and technical abilities, develop a greater appreciation for classical music, and work alongside professionals, all for no cost. YMM members have held a presence in the community through filming our own YouTube video, participating in rallies, performing at the Minnesota State Fair, Orchestrate Excellence forums, our own youth orchestra concerts, chamber performances in the Orchestra Hall lobby, and as well as at We Day Minnesota 2013 (which is an educational event and movement of our time—a movement of young people leading local and global change).
To become a member, simply contact us to get involved in the movement!
The YMM Executive Committee
Emily Green, Founder, President, and Summer Music Festival Director of YMM, began her music studies at the age of five, studying Suzuki piano with Barbara Rossow. Pursuing a BM in horn performance under the tutelage of Professor Leslie Norton, Emily currently attends Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music as a Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholar, one of the school's highest distinctions awarded to less than 1% of Vanderbilt's students on the basis of academic achievement, intellectual promise, leadership skills, and contribution outside the classroom. Emily has served on the Board of Directors for the Mississippi Valley Orchestra, a civic orchestra based out of St. Paul, the Twin Cities Horn Club, and the founding Board for Save Our Symphony Minnesota. Along with her studies in Nashville, she works as the marketing Intern for the ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, a local Grammy-nominated nonprofit chamber ensemble, is the Education and Community Outreach Intern for the Nashville Opera, and is the Assistant Student Manager for the Vanderbilt University Symphony Orchestra. Emily's main role with YMM includes communications, marketing, logistics, events management, development, and heading the annual YMM Summer Music Festivals. You can visit Emily's website at www.emilygreenhorn.com.
Grant Johnson, YMM's Vice President, has been a part of YMM since the summer of 2013 and serves as the YMM Summer Music Festival's Principal Second Violinist. He began studying violin at the age of four, piano at the age of six, and organ in college. Grant is currently studying environmental science at the University of Minnesota, where he serves as concertmaster for the Maroon Festival Orchestra and associate concertmaster for the Gold Chamber Orchestra. He has played in orchestras including the Minnesota Philharmonic, Kenwood Symphony, Minnesota Sinfonia, and the Mississippi Valley Orchestra. Grant has been a featured performer in the Twin Cities American Guild of Organists member recital. He is currently the orchestra librarian with the Minnesota Bach Ensemble and works part time in the Minnesota Orchestra's library. Grant has also been featured and published by Classical MPR as a member of YMM. Grant's role with YMM includes outreach, resource distribution, and media coordination.
Fostering a love of classical music among youth is what YMM Treasurer Jamie Gorski hopes to accomplish as a part of YMM's new Executive Committee. It wasn't until Jamie started playing with the Minnesota Youth Symphonies (MYS) that she realized how captivating classical music is. "Creating beautiful music establishes a connection with others unlike any thing else." A senior at Roseville Area High School (RAHS), Jamie started playing trumpet at the age of nine and now studies with Manny Laureano, Principal Trumpet of the Minnesota Orchestra. At RAHS, she is a member of the Symphonic Band, Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Brass Quintet, Jazz Ensemble I and Jazz Combo I. She was a 2014-15 MMEA All-State Band member, was selected to participate in Boston University Tanglewood Institute's 2015 Young Artist's Orchestra, and is a 2016 Semi-Finalist for National Trumpet Competition in Columbus, Georgia. Outside of school, she participates in MYS's Symphony Orchestra, YMM, and Rising Joy Band. She has also played with the Minnesota Youth Jazz Bands, Rosetown Playhouse Pit Orchestra and for various church worship services in the Twin Cities. In the future, Jamie hopes to pursue a double major in Trumpet Performance and Business. Jamie leads YMM as its primary chief advocate and outreach manager.
Aaron Hirsch, YMM’s Artistic Director, has been actively involved in music his whole life. Coming from a musical, dairy-farming family in Sleepy Eye, MN, he began piano lessons at age 7. Aaron attended the University of Minnesota’s School of Music, graduating in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Organ Performance. During this time he studied organ, piano, and harpsichord, as well as conducting and German. In 2012, Hirsch won a fellowship from the Deutche Academische Austausch Dienst (DAAD) for studying a semester at the Stuttgart Hoschschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst. Upon returning to the U.S. in 2013, Aaron received honorable mention in the American Guild of Organists and Schubert Club Young Organists competition. Aaron currently resides in Washington state, where he is studying for a master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. During this time he has also been appointed Assistant Conductor of the Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra. Aaron returns home to Minnesota in the summers to direct YMM's annual Summer Music Festivals.
