Christmas album displays talents of local teens in American Heritage School’s youth orchestra
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- Yahosh Bonner performs a rendition of “O Holy Night” during a Lyceum Philharmonic rehearsal led by Kayson Brown at American Heritage School in American Fork on Dec. 11, 2024.
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- Student musicians with the Lyceum Philharmonic rehearse Dec. 11, 2024.
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- Makynlee Hinckley, a violist in American Heritage School’s Lyceum Philharmonic, is shown after rehearsal on Dec. 11, 2024.
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- Kayson Brown, Lyceum Philharmonic’s director, leads the youth orchestra rehearsal at American Heritage School on Dec. 11, 2024.
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- Kayson Brown, Lyceum Philharmonic’s director, leads the youth orchestra rehearsal at American Heritage School on Dec. 11, 2024.
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- The American Heritage School’s Lyceum Philharmonic youth orchestra rehearses Dec. 11, 2024.
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- The American Heritage School’s Lyceum Philharmonic youth orchestra rehearses Dec. 11, 2024.
Makynlee Hinckley has had a musical instrument in her hands for nearly as long as she’s been alive.
The 16-year-old says she began playing the violin when she was only 3.
“I feel like I’ve always had some sort of connection to music, and I’m able to feel things on a deeper level and communicate things on a deeper level with music than I’m ever able to with words,” Hinckley said.
Around three years ago, she transitioned from the violin to a viola.
One of the reasons for the switch, she says, comes from her admiration of violist Tabea Zimmerman.
With a passion for music and playing instruments, she’s taken her talents to play alongside other teens from across Northern Utah in a youth symphony in Salt Lake City.
A little over a year ago, Hinckley got the opportunity to join the Lyceum Philharmonic based out of American Heritage School in American Fork. The youth orchestra is composed of local teenagers from across Utah County, though some students come from other areas to participate in the program.
Hinckley resides in Davis County and is an 11th grader at Leadership Academy of Utah.
She is just one of hundreds of students in the program who are creating professional, commercial-quality music that is being heard around the world.
The Lyceum Philharmonic is led by director Kayson Brown. He says the youth orchestra has hit the top of the Billboard classical music charts on multiple occasions, including with guest artists The Piano Guys and Paul Cardall.
All of this while balancing school, music, work and church callings.
“For a group of teens to be creating music that’s resonating nationally and globally is an extraordinary accomplishment that speaks to both their talent and the values that drive them,” Brown said.
Last month, the high-school-aged ensemble released a Christmas album, “Counting Christmas Blessings.”
The star-studded album features a bevy of collaborations such as as two-time Tony Award nominee and television star Laura Osnes, “The Voice” alumna Madilyn Paige, and TV personality and music artist Yahosh Bonner, a press release stated.
Brown said he wanted to put a project together that connected the young musicians to the true spirit of Christmas.
“I decided to focus on gratitude — counting your blessings at Christmas and not your presents,” he explained. “Despite what struggles you may be facing, and I know that some of these youth are facing very real struggles, just focusing on the good.”
Brown says following the youth orchestra’s Christmas concert in 2022, where Osnes was invited as a guest, her cadence, personality and performance helped spark an idea for what would become “Counting Christmas Blessings.”
Osnes appears on a performance of Irving Berlin’s “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep,” which is featured on the project and has an accompanying scenic music video, that was filmed in the mountains above Sundance Mountain Resort.
“This project beautifully captures the essence of Christmas–both its spirit of joy and its reflective moments of gratitude,” Osnes said in a press release. “It was an honor to collaborate with these incredible young musicians to bring such meaningful music to life.”
Bonner, whom many Utahns are familiar with, performs a soul-stirring, modern rendition of “O Holy Night” on the project.
“Yahosh’s voice is so authentic and connected to his enslaved ancestors that you really feel the humanity in his voice. It’s just one more small way that music can bring us together across time and cultures,” Brown said.
As one could imagine, recording and producing an entire album is no easy feat. The time it takes to record, edit, mix, master and promote an album is such that projects ramp up for a year and take six months or more to put together.
But in this case, Brown says their timing was much different.
“Where we are a youth group tied to the school year, we did the whole album in about six weeks, not six months,” Brown said. “We recorded in mid-October and had the whole album ready to submit to streaming by Nov. 1. It was a herculean effort by all those involved.”
But the tight turn-around didn’t impact the youth orchestra’s overall project or quality, and people are responding.
Even before their latest offering, the Lyceum Philharmonic has been averaging just over 240,000 listeners a month on Spotify.
“It’s getting close to the numbers you see from the Grammy Award-winning Tabernacle Choir,” Brown noted. “The fact that high school youth based out of American Fork are even in the same sentence as some of these groups is crazy.”
The experience for the teens was impactful and educational, according to Brown.
The album was recorded in the new Salt Lake City American Heritage School campus in a renovated chapel.
The youth orchestra has been busy this past month promoting the new release at a handful of concerts in Salt Lake and Utah counties.
While the album is a celebration of the season, Brown says the work ethic of the teen musicians stands out no matter the time of year.
“They put their hearts into this project, and to see it take off I think gives them hope and encouragement to keep developing their talents and using them for good,” Brown said.
As for Hinckley, she hopes people who listen to the project can build a special connection with each song selection.
“It has such a deep meaning, and it just touches people on such an emotional level,” she told the Daily Herald.
Lyceum Philharmonic’s “Counting Christmas Blessings” is available on several platforms including Apple Music, YouTube and iTunes.
