Model High School Rising Senior Joins Premier Summer Training Program for Young Musicians

Model High School rising senior, Barton Sopata will be joining ranks this summer with some of the most influential and gifted musicians in the country at Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI)– one of North America’s premier summer training programs for young musicians. The 2019 BUTI season takes place at Tanglewood, on the BUTI campus in Lenox, MA on June 17-August 10, 2019. It features concert and recital programming throughout the Berkshires; workshops led by distinguished performers and teachers from Boston University College of Fine Arts, the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), and Visiting Artists; and rich programs of learning and performance for students ages 10-20. Led by Executive Director Hilary Field Respass, BUTI is the only program of its kind associated with one of the world’s great symphony orchestras, the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The class of 2019 was selected through a rigorous application and audition process, and Barton is now one of 430 students internationally to be accepted into the BUTI summer training program. Barton’s years of lessons, practice, and dedication have paid off! He has been a member of all state band each year since 8th grade and in 2018 was second chair trumpet in the GMEA Concert Band. He spent the summer of 2018 touring the country as a member of the Blue Coats World Class Drum Corps. Also in 2018, Barton was recognized as one of the country’s top young musicians by earning a spot in the National Association for Music Education All-National Honor Ensemble.  He is a member of the Atlanta Youth Symphony and has received instruction from Raymond Mase, head of trumpet instruction st the Juilliard School in New York.

“Barton’s future in the music industry is bright. I am amazed at what he has accomplished. With his talent and hard work, Barton will soar to great heights,” said Model High School Band Director, Tim Burton.

Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) is a program of Boston University College of Fine Arts. It is recognized as one of the nation’s premier summer training programs for aspiring young musicians ages 10–20 and is the only program of its kind associated with one of the world’s great symphony orchestras. Founded in 1966, BUTI is a result of the vision of Erich Leinsdorf, music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) at the time, who invited BU to create a summer program for high school musicians as a counterpart to the BSO’s Tanglewood Music Center. Scores of BUTI alumni have gone on to illustrious careers in music, including dozens who perform in the top orchestras in the country.

Over the course of the eight-week season, BUTI students and faculty will offer more than 100 concerts and community events in the Berkshires, including approximately 30 free performances at non-traditional venues such as retirement communities, libraries, and parks. These performances offer the young musicians a chance to bring music to audiences who might not experience it regularly, while also building their audience engagement skills.

Each summer, BUTI accepts a select group of talented high school and early college-age musicians, inviting them to BU’s 64-acre campus in Lenox, MA, for training programs in orchestra, voice, wind ensemble, piano, composition, and harp, as well as workshops for individual instruments and string chamber music. The 2019 Summer Concert Series is generously sponsored by M&T Bank. For more admissions and enrollment information, visit bu.edu/tanglewood.