Shauna Quill on a Grammy Nomination, Being a Flutist, and Advocating for Equity

Mixed Asian Media - January 20, 2023

By Naturally MonaLisa

I had the pleasure of interviewing Shauna Quill, who is the Executive Director of the New York Youth Symphony (NYYS). This year, NYYS released their first studio album, which hit number one on the Billboard chart for Classical Albums. Not only that, the album was also nominated for a Grammy award for Best Orchestral Performance! Make sure to watch the Grammy Awards on February 5, 2023 and cheer for the NYYS. Also, make sure to follow NYYS on Instagram and Twitter, and follow Shauna Quill on LinkedIn.

Please introduce yourself to those that may not know you. What do you do at the New York Youth Symphony? How long have you worked there?

I'm Shauna Quill and I'm the Executive Director of the New York Youth Symphony. I've been in the role since 2011, so I have been in the role for just over 11 years.

Why is the NYYS "more than a symphony" as stated by your tagline? Why is it important for the NYYS to offer several programs and opportunities, and not just a youth orchestra?

We do offer many more programs and not just the orchestra. We did start out just as an orchestra. But then we grew to have a chamber music program, Jazz, Composition, Conducting, and Musical Theater and Songwriting. We are all about the Creation of New Music. That’s a big part of who we are. But to your question of why have so many programs? Well, kids today have so many interests, and they are so many exciting genres in music to explore. Our organization is 60 years old now, and we grow as the people grow. We are reflective of our community, and what our community needs.

The NYYS did the unthinkable by recording their first studio album during the pandemic while socially distanced. And then the NYYS received a Grammy Nomination for Best Orchestral Performance! How much does this Grammy nomination mean to you and everyone at NYYS?

We are beyond ecstatic! It's so exciting and energizing to us, especially because that was never the goal or the purpose of this recording.

During the pandemic, we couldn't perform, and everything was shut down. A lot of the students are from New York City, who were stuck in their apartments by themselves and had no social interactions. So the pandemic caused an emotional toll on them. We felt strongly to come back and do something together after three months of shutting down, so we came up with the idea of doing a record. But our orchestra is 110 people! There was no place in New York City big enough to socially distance 110 musicians and make a coherent recording. So we broke them up into three groups, and they recorded on top of each other. In the post-production phase, the music was layered together.

We had a great repertoire by Jesse Montgomery (NYYS alum), Valorie Coleman (a composer and my idol) and Florence Price. Our producer Judith Sherman, who has won multiple Grammys, told us the recordings are really good and we should get it out there. So we reached out to our contacts to get us connected to a recording company, and two recording companies actually said they would do it! Then when we released the album in April 2022, the album hit number one on Billboard! So we thought, that’s it. We have reached the pinnacle of everything.

Michael Repper, Music Director of the NYYS Orchestra, suggested that we put the album in for a Grammy, which we did. We are up against 100 other orchestras, and I mean top orchestras around the world. When we were watching the Grammy nominations session on Zoom, we saw nominations for famous orchestras like the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. And then we started seeing Jesse Montgomery and Florence Prices’ names, and that’s when it hit us that we got nominated for a Grammy! For us, being nominated is "life goals accomplished forever!" We just got our tickets to the Grammy Awards. I never in my life thought I would go to the Grammy Awards, so this is pretty cool.

Let's learn more about you. You started playing the flute when you were 8. Why did you pick the flute, and what are some misconceptions about the flute or about flutists that you would like to debunk?

I have an older sister, Colleen. She's 2 years older, and she also plays the flute. One day, she was practicing the flute. She said, “Come here and see if you could make a sound with the flute.” I actually could, and that was kinda it. My mom thought that was perfect because she just bought my sister a new flute, so I was able to use her old flute. My sister already had a flute teacher, so my mom took me to the same teacher.

I think personally flutists are awesome and amazing people, and we run the world! What’s interesting is, I have talked to many people in arts administration, heads of A&R (artists and repertoire), and record labels, and they were all former flutists. I think we are organized, and we have attention to detail. I think people assume that flutists are cliquey, but I don't think that's true. I have always loved my teammates!

Tell me about your background and upbringing. Did your family encourage you to pursue music? Or did they try to push you into a “money-making” field like medicine or law?

I'm half Irish, My dad's Irish from New York City. My mom has Australian citizenship, but she is Chinese and Welsh. So I grew up in an amazingly diverse cultural background. We went to Irish festivals on the weekend. We had dance lessons, music lessons, and theatre lessons. My family is kind of like an omnivore of the arts. My dad loved going to the theatre. My mom loved musical theatre. I love classical. We all have different favorite genres, but also appreciate each others’ interests. Every once in a while, we have tennis or softball. But music is a big part of us. I’m very passionate about music, I’m very personally driven, and my parents were very supportive of me. I’m very lucky to have this kind of parents.

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA in Music Performance and performing at the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, what made you decide to pursue a career in arts administration, instead of continuing your career as a flutist?

I had terrible repetitive stress injuries. I think the flute doesn’t ergonomically fit me. When you hold the flute, both arms should be straight. However, I’m 5 feet, 10 inches, and I have long arms. Sso my arms must bend to hold and play the flute. During college, I had rehearsals for four hours a day, then I would go to ensembles for another three to four hours, then I had chamber music rehearsals. So that was so much stress on me, and it caused havoc on my body. I went to physical therapy, and I had occupational therapists that changed my flutes. I had custom-made flutes that have longer keys to keep my arms straight. There were so many modifications that had to be made for me. I was supposed to do a master's degree at Carnegie Mellon with an amazing flute teacher. It was a great opportunity, but I was in so much pain and I decided not to do the program.

Also, I had a million other interests. I actually considered going to law school. So right out of college, I got a job as a paralegal at a law firm in New York City. My dad was a lawyer, and he said if I really wanted to go to law school, I should check out this law firm and work there for a year to get some law experience. I did apply for law school and got a nice substantial scholarship too.

But then another great opportunity came to me. I would look at the New York Times job section on Sundays and I would apply for any job that I thought was interesting. That’s how I landed a job at Herbert Breslin’s office for the Publicity and Management of opera singers and musicians. I was 22 years old and I didn't know anything, but Herbert Breslin was so good to me. He was kinda like a grandpa to me, he taught me the business, and I got to travel around the world with musicians like Luciano Pavarotti. After working for him, I went to the Aspen Music Festival and worked in their artistic department for four and a half years. And that’s how my career took off.

How has your mixed-race background influenced you as an artist, the music that you chose to perform, or the work that you have done as an arts administrator?

I am an advocate for equity. Everything that I've done since I've started and being in control of artistic decisions has been through an equity lens. I'm super proud of the music, the guest artists, the staff, and the students at the New York Youth Symphony. We need to be reflective of the community that we are in. We're not totally there yet, but we're getting there. That has been my greatest passion of what I can contribute to the New York Youth Symphony.

So staying on that same thought, as an arts administrator, how do you ensure there’s diversity and inclusion during the audition/interview process and in the casting of performers on stage?

So the audition process is only the end of the process. It actually starts with recruitment. We should consider, when someone comes to our concert, do they see themselves as being one of those people up there? When we recruit, we should consider, are we reaching the right people? What partnerships do we have in the community in order to reach a younger demographic? There's a lot of El Sistema programs in New York City, so we work with a lot of them. We also work with opportunity music projects who give free lessons to people.

We also want to make sure that kids have about four months to prepare for auditions. We usually make the announcements for auditions in May or June, and we conduct the auditions in September or October. We announce the requirements for the auditions ahead of time, so that kids have all summer to work with their teachers and have time to go on vacation.

We also offer audition bootcamps. Corey Lee from the Liberated Performer and ETHEL Quartet conduct those bootcamps for the New York Youth Symphony. He’s a performance anxiety coach and he conducts these audition bootcamps to help kids face their fears during the audition process. I’m terrible at auditions myself, and I wish I had a coach like him when I was a young girl doing auditions!

To wrap things up, what are several ways that people can support the New York Youth Symphony, both in person and online?

The best way to support us is to come see us! We perform throughout the city. We perform at Carnegie Hall three times a year. We also perform at Birdland Jazz Club, Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, National Sawdust, and Joe's Pub at the Public Theater. So please support the kids by showing up and being there. We do rely on donations from our community, so you can donate online or donate when you come to a concert. With this Grammy nomination, please root for us! If you can vote for us, please vote for us!

We are launching a new orchestra that's going to be just for New York City residents, to address a musical education gap in the city that was caused by the pandemic. If you know a student who should audition for us, send them a link about us. Visit our website and our YouTube channel to learn more about us, and feel free to call us! We are happy to consult parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles about our opportunities. Grandparents do call us and ask, how could they get their grandkids to join the NYYS, and we are happy to consult and give them information. So feel free to reach out to us!