Alexis Singleton

The Chautauqua Regional Youth Symphony came together in August for its first board meeting in what could go down as the strangest start to a school year in CRYS history.

The focus of the meeting was how to keep students involved and engaged under the unusual circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges it has presented to school systems as well as performing ensembles across the country.

In the spring of 2020, as schools closed and businesses shut their doors, the youth symphony also was forced to stop rehearsals. The annual Spring Gala, which is held every year at Chautauqua Institution, was cancelled, and the school year was brought to a close on an anti-climactic note. Enrolled students were issued a tuition credit to reflect the lost rehearsal time and lost educational experience.

Kicking off a new school year with their August meeting, Chautauqua Regional Youth Symphony board members want to ensure a meaningful and educational experience for their students, no matter what the school year may look like. Many ideas are being considered such as online webinar masterclasses led by CRYS orchestra conductor, Bryan Eckenrode. Performance opportunities were discussed depending on the safety level of a small chamber string group rehearsing. Such a performance could be shared with family and friends via video and audio recording, radio broadcasts, or even Facebook live. In all considerations, the student’s safety remains the number one priority.

The board also welcomed Alexis Singleton as a new member. Singleton is a co-owner and vice president of El Greco Woodworking Inc., known for its top-rated, American-made baby cribs. She oversees product safety and compliance, marketing, and strategy for her family-owned business.

Prior to joining El Greco, Singleton was a principal and NASDAQ trader on Wall Street. She advises small businesses on marketing and development plans, and coaches business and community leaders on critical negotiations.

Alexis has served as a director at the Ralph C Sheldon Foundation Inc. since 2003. She also helps to advance economic development at the local and state levels through her positions including Workforce Investment Board chair and state Downtown Revitalization Initiative member. Alexis earned a bachelor’s degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She and her husband, Todd, are raising three children in Jamestown.

Singleton has been a string player since she began lessons with Nina Karbacka, CRYS board president, in the mid-1970s. In the youth orchestra’s early days, she played her viola with Lorin Hollander, American classical concert pianist, and Singleton said she hopes to help facilitate similar experiences for today’s orchestra members.

For more information about the Chautauqua Regional Youth Symphony and its programs for young musicians, email manager Tim Przybelinski, at ChautauquaRYS@gmail.com or visit CRYouthSymphony.com or the Chautauqua Regional Youth Symphony’s Facebook page.