(EL PASO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT – June 24, 2024) — Eight-year Tocando Music Project student Daniel Moreno, has been selected to attend the internationally renowned National Seminario Ravinia: Orchestras for All! festival this upcoming July. The major music festival will engage over 130 teenage students from 43 orchestral organizations around the USA, Canada, Mexico, Greece, and Sweden for four days of orchestral training, community building, and performance.

Students will receive mentorship from members of the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (NOI+F) and work under the artistic leadership of famed conductors Marin Alsop Jessica Altarriba. The Seminario will culminate in a performance side-by-side with the NOI+F musicians in the Pavilion at the Ravinia Festival.

Daniel, who is a student at Bowie High School, has been enrolled in Tocando Music Project since the second grade and the El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestras since the seventh grade. As Tocando’s first ever “Student Teaching Assistant” he has received private lessons throughout the year and works assisting Tocando’s Teaching Artists each day.

“I think it’s important for people to understand that these opportunities can happen for students in our neighborhood - in any neighborhood - but [they don’t] happen after [only] one year in an orchestra. This is the kind of thing that only happens after years of dedication, artistic growth, and hard work. After pushing through the tough days and committing to the process.” said Tocando Music Project’s Director of Pedagogy and Teaching Artist, Ana María Quintero Muñoz. 

Daniel will attend the festival on a full scholarship from the Ravinia Festival and Tocando Music Project.

The El Paso Symphony Orchestra and Tocando are extraordinarily proud of Daniel’s hard work and diligence and hope that he is the first of many young musicians to receive the honor and represent the El Paso community throughout the world!