“Being a member of the ASTRAL roster was one of the most significant opportunities of my career. Through ASTRAL, I was able to form several working relationships with presenters in and around the Philadelphia area, as well as become part of several enriching and enduring musical partnerships.
I learned how to be a better professional musician under ASTRAL’s wing, as they provided valuable advice and support during my tenure. My professional goals would not have been easy to achieve without their unfailing guidance and belief in what I was doing as a musician.”
Jason Vieaux
Astral Graduate Guitarist
“It wasn’t too terribly long ago that I too was down in the trenches, fighting to scratch out a living in music. My heart goes out to the countless musicians who are in desperate need of fostering as they struggle in this tough and sometimes cruel business. How wonderful that the young artists who are fortunate enough to be a part of the Astral family can enjoy the nurturing atmosphere and clear guidance of this much-needed organization as they build their careers. My wife and I enthusiastically support Astral in their important work.”
David Kim
Concertmaster, The Philadelphia Orchestra
“Raising a musical child brings joys and proud moments that many parents share. Nurturing a budding musical talent is a challenge, but the path during school days is well structured with concerts, competitions, and camps. As non-musical parents, we learned a great deal about music as we enjoyed our son Clancy’s performances and followed him into his expanding musical world. However, there came a point when it was apparent that his talent demanded more than the common musical pathways could provide; at this point, great promise met great uncertainty.
Astral has been the guiding light through this critical period, bridging talent and career, and working to polish talent into stardom. In the time that Clancy has been associated with Astral we have seen many young artists mature musically and commence outstanding musical careers. Without Astral they may not have crossed the bridge, and the world may not have heard their superb musical contributions.
As parents, we continue our encouragement, but Astral has done so much more than encourage, providing supportive career mentoring, sensitive advice, effective publicity, a variety of appreciative audiences, and exciting opportunities to try new musical collaborations with rising or established stars and with orchestras. Most importantly, Astral provided essential performance opportunities. Stars need somewhere to shine, and what venues Astral has provided - Carnegie Hall and the Kimmel Center among them! While working on behalf of Clancy and the other artists, Astral has enhanced the musical climate of the northeast and beyond, with Astral artists frequently featured on National Public Radio. In this way it has generated future audiences of classical music lovers.
We are especially grateful for the trust that Astral displays in its artists. Astral has provided Clancy with precious performance opportunities for his own compositions. He now has a dual-tracked career as a performer and composer because of Astral’s unerring encouragement and support.
In January 2007, Astral sponsored a solo recital for Clancy in New York City, which included his own compositions. As proud parents in the audience we were so grateful to Astral for polishing our son’s talent and launching his musical career. We are privileged to have been able to provide financial support to Astral for its unique and vital work in finding future stars and allowing them to shine.”
Joan & Graeme Newman
Parents of Astral Graduate Cellist, Clancy Newman
