Elise Montenora, a junior and bass trombonist at VCHS, has been accepted to the prestigious YOLA
National Institute (YNI). YOLA is the Youth Orchestra of the LA Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in California.
Elise initially participated in the YOLA National Festival in the summer of 2019 having traveled to Los Angeles and worked with peer musicians and members of the LA Philharmonic with a culminating performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Elise participated virtually in the same program in the Summer of 2020. That summer Elise applied and was selected to the YOLA National Institute in September 2020.
The YOLA National Institute (YNI) is an in-depth training program for young musicians interested in pursuing a career in the field of music and is invested in youth and community development through music education. It is a two-year fellowship program composed of about twenty young musicians and mentors from across the United States. They connect to each other and explore how music can be used to promote the arts for self-discovery in their communities and how they can give back to their communities through music.
Elise began playing the trombone in 2014 and decided to transition to bass trombone in 2018. She attended the Music Advancement Program (MAP) at Juilliard from 2017-2020 having studied under Burt Mason, principal trombonist for the Chamber Orchestra of New York. Currently Elise is studying under Broadway’s own, Jennifer Wharton, out of Montclair State University.

Elise is excited to be participating in this prestigious program. She hopes to pursue a career in Humanities and Applied Sciences with the Arts and is particularly interested in the study of the effects of music on both cognitive and physiological processes. She hopes to be able to combine this interest with her interest in providing arts programs in cultures and demographics that connect people through music.