On-Demand

Line Supervisor at O-AT-KA

From BOCES electrician program to an associate in maintenance, Mike Myers was hired as a mechanic at O-AT-KA and promoted on the job.

Mike Myers is a Line Supervisor that oversees a certain area of the plant working with other supervisors and workers. The job has a lot of variety. He trained as an electrician at BOCES and went to college to get an associates degree in maintenance. He was hired to be a mechanic and moved up to supervisory roles on the job at O-AT-KA working in the food production industry. Find a job like this.

Line Supervisor from Career Coach

Electrical Mechanical Technician at Love Beets USA

From BOCES electrician training directly into the workforce, Rodney Hay was hired as an automation electrician. Now he is part of Love Beets USA 4 year apprenticeship program which combines classwork with experience on the job to lead to a certification.

Rodney Hay trained to be a residential electrician in high school through BOCES. He was hired out of high school by a company as an automation electrician. He is now works at Love Beets and had access to their 4 year apprenticeship program to earn a certificate that is honored elsewhere. Learn about his training and opportunities in this field.

Electrical Mechanical Technician Info from Career Coach

Changing Gears On-Demand

Ride along for a supercharged adventure as Alexandra, Dylan, and Michael—aspiring auto technicians—discover the growing possibilities in the automotive tech field.

As they speak to 3D car printers, 4×4 builders, Fast and the Furious effects specialists, and more, they learn that the grease monkey stereotype is outdated; being a technician means driving the future of human movement forward.

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Life Hackers On-Demand

Superheroes might not exist, but “Life Hackers” introduces audiences to the modern-day equivalent: cybersecurity experts.

Follow the journey of three aspiring cybersecurity professionals as they take a road trip across the country to seek out guidance from the trailblazers and innovators who are fighting to safeguard our online information.

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Future West On-Demand

Three Arizona-based college students travel around the state to explore the creative and original ways residents are pushing innovation to its limits.

As a child, 19-year-old Anna Mackey traveled with her dad to Arizona’s forgotten towns. She’d step into a whole different world shaped by the stories of the people who lived there.

Nashville, Tennessee native Jonathan Reiss didn’t grow up in the state, but when it came time to choose a college, Arizona just felt right. The freedom of a new, wide-open place helped him focus on what makes him happy.

Shandin Gormin, 18, is looking to the future. She wants to find what it holds for journalism, and for the Navajo Nation where she grew up. Her future, ideally, will combine both.

Follow along as they meet record store owners, engineers, rocketeers, and more, all the while figuring out how they’ll uniquely contribute to Arizona’s culture of innovation themselves. When people think of “startups,” they tend to think of Silicon Valley. But as access to tech education and capital spreads, the barrier to entry for startups across the country has lowered, and as a result, there’s been explosive growth in areas beyond San Francisco. One such area? Arizona, a state whose commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation has attracted tons of new startups, inspiring locals to start calling the state the “Silicon Desert.”

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Ready to Rise On-Demand

Follow three “opportunity youth”—young people who are part of the 5.6 million youth in America who are unemployed, not in school, and struggling with challenges as extreme as homelessness. On a mission to unlock their potential, they travel the country and interview people like poets, educators, and “Pursuit of Happyness” author Chris Gardner—all of whom have harnessed adversity for success.

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One Step Closer On-Demand

When you start at community college, your next step could take you anywhere.

Watch as three students road-trip across the country to speak with leaders who used community college to carve a path to higher education, specialized skills—and more importantly, rewarding lives and careers. Along the way, they discover how valuable their own community college experiences can be.

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Music for Life: The Story of New Horizons On-Demand

Learn more about this music program for senior musicians whose skills range from novice to seasoned.

New Horizons defies the notion that “retirement means sitting on your sofa all day, watching television, and waiting to die.” That’s how Dr. Roy Ernst, professor emeritus at Eastman School of Music and New Horizons founder, puts it.

Marian found respite during a time of trouble. George found his life partner. Marjorie found something she’d thought she’d lost forever. They all found more than they bargained for when they joined the New Horizons Music Program, a program for senior musicians whose skills range from novice to seasoned. Marian, George, Marjorie and others share how they found a new connection to music and so much more in this hour-long documentary.

Dr. Ernst explains in the documentary, is that anyone can learn to play music at a personal level that will bring a sense of accomplishment. That feeling of accomplishment and being part of something is a basic human need. Like band member David, who took up the trombone at age 82, says “If you don’t have something to occupy your time and your mind, you degenerate health wise.”

“When you play a great piece of music you’re in the presence of something far greater than yourself,” explains RPO Conductor Laureate Christopher Seaman. And that’s exactly what New Horizons members experience. Whether they have rekindled, or found for the first time, their passion for music and performing – they are part of something bigger than themselves. Along the way, they have discovered new abilities, formed life-long friendships, and proved to us all that life is a journey, not a race.

What started as a 30-member band in Rochester, New York more than 20 years ago has grown to a program that includes 10,000 musicians in 215 New Horizons bandsacross the United States, as well as in Canada, Ireland, Australia, and several other countries.

Watch the Full Documentary On-Demand:

Music for Life: The Story of New Horizons was funded in part by Eastman School of Music, New Horizons, and the Waldron Rise Foundation.

Meet Marin

Marian plays the cello in the Eastman New Horizons Orchestra.

Marian shares her love of the cello and her passion to play in Music for Life: The New Horizons, premiering on WXXI-TV Thursday, December 4 at 8 p.m. The hour-long documentary chronicles the New Horizons International Music Association, founded by Dr. Roy Ernst in 1991 in Rochester, NY. New Horizons Music programs provide entry points to music making for adults, who were active in school music programs but haven’t played in years, as well as those with no musical experience. To learn more about the documentary, click here.

Watch this short clip from Music for Life featuring Marian:

Meet Bud

Bud plays the drums in the Eastman New Horizons Band.

Bud was interviewed for WXXI’s newest documentary, Music for Life: The New Horizons, which premieres Thursday, December 4 at 8 p.m. The hour-long documentary chronicles the New Horizons International Music Association, founded by Dr. Roy Ernst in 1991 in Rochester, NY. New Horizons Music programs provide entry points to music making for adults, who were active in school music programs but haven’t played in years, as well as those with no musical experience. To learn more about the documentary, click here.

Watch this short clip from Music for Life featuring Budd:

Meet Thomas Dooley, the documentary producer

Television producer Thomas Dooley talks with Classical 91.5 morning host Brenda Tremblay about his newest production, Music for Life: The Story of New Horizons.

Tom shares with Brenda some of the amazing people he met while filming the documentary, Music for Life: The Story of New Horizons, which premieres on WXXI-TV Thursday, December 4 at 8 p.m. The film chronicles the New Horizons International Music Association, founded by Dr. Roy Ernst in 1991 in Rochester, NY. New Horizons Music programs provide entry points to music making for adults, who were active in school music programs but haven’t played in years, as well as those with no musical experience.

Play It Foward

Eastman New Horizons’ band member Beverly Maville-Letter shares the history of New Horizons Mentor Program.

George Eastman’s philanthropic efforts in Rochester, NY are legendary, but his founding of Eastman School of Music and its sister school, Eastman Community Music School reflected his passion for music by offering training for musicians from childhood on. In 1919, Eastman also provided $15,000 for band and orchestra instruments for Rochester school children.

Fast forward to 1991, when Eastman’s vision expanded with the founding of New Horizons. Eastman could not have known how the legacy he left through Eastman School of Music and Community School would become a global phenomenon through Roy Ernst and New Horizons. At the same time in Rochester, urban schools were struggling to provide any extra instructional enrichment.

Through an unusual set of circumstances a connection was made with Clinton Bell, principal at Rochester School #22, who also dreamed that his school would have a band program. Stephen Georger, a faculty member and general music teacher, recruited a select group of 16 students (good grades required) and by January there were 12 New Horizon mentors who gave an hour a week. After working hard, the fledgling band made its debut at a mini-concert in March, then performed in their Spring Concert with smiling parents, faculty, and mentors proudly looking on in June.

One young musician expressed a desire to audition at Rochester School of the Arts. He had just started studying the sax in January 2014. He worked hard as his mentors helped him prepare an audition piece and two scales. Our young saxophonist passed his audition and has just begun his first year in middle school at the School of the Arts.

In May, Eastman New Horizons welcomed the new band as guests to our annual Spring Concert at Kodak Hall, the beautiful concert hall of Eastman School of Music. The children were treated to a limo ride and dinner before the concert, and were recognized in the concert for their hard work and dedication.

“Playing It Forward” is our mantra, picking up on what was started in 1919 with George Eastman’s gift of band instruments to Rochester children and helping renew the music program in the city, where more musical ideas are beginning district wide. The children and mentors are all thriving in an atmosphere of deep respect and affection. The Band Program in School #22 has grown to almost 40 members and over 20 volunteer mentors. George Eastman would have been pleased.

This blog was written by Eastman New Horizons’ band member Beverly Maville-Letter.

New Horizons is the subject of WXXI’s newest documentary, “Music for Life: The Story of New Horizons,” premiering on WXXI-TV December 4 at 8 p.m. and streaming live at WXXI.org/musicforlife. In the hour-long program you’ll meet New Horizon founder Dr. Ernst, who shares why he felt compelled to start the music program for seniors and many of the New Horizons’ musicians, who rekindled or found, for the first time, their passion for music. You’ll also learn more about the mentor program that Beverly talks about .