Youth Orchestra
Interested in joining the Youth Orchestra? Come visit us at our Open Rehearsal on Wednesday, March 7, 7:00-9:15 at Dublin Scioto High School. For more information click here!
Central Ohio’s aspiring young instrumentalists in grades 9-12 perform in this ensemble directed by Peter Stafford Wilson, Associate Conductor of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. The 100-member orchestra has students from 36 high schools in over 20 counties. Members are selected through a competitive audition process annually in April/May.
Sponsored by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the organization emphasizes the performance of standard orchestral literature with special emphasis on American music under the leadership of a professional conductor with regular advice from coaches from the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. Weekly rehearsals during the school year are carried out under professional standards, and the members are expected to take private lessons and maintain leadership responsibilities in their school ensembles.
The orchestra performs an extensive series of concerts including three subscription programs at its home, The Capitol Theatre at the Vern Riffe Center in downtown Columbus. In 1998, the orchestra was one of six chosen worldwide to appear at the 1998 Banff International Youth Orchestra Festival in Banff, Alberta, Canada. During the summer of 1999, it made its first European tour, performing highly acclaimed concerts in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Returning to Dresden Germany in 2000, the orchestra developed an exchange relationship with the Heinrich Schultz Konservatorium, a community music school that boasts 8000 students. In June of 2005, the orchestra embarked on an extensive 15-day tour of the Peoples Republic of China and Hong Kong performing in 5 different cities, including a concert atop the Great Wall of China.
The Orchestra has appeared at regional conferences of the Ohio Music Educators Association, and the national conferences of the Music Educators National Conference and the American Symphony Orchestra League. In 1998, the Orchestra released its first CD recording featuring Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, and its concerts are regularly re-broadcast on WOSU-FM. Artists appearing with the Orchestra in recent seasons have included Dave Brubeck, Andrew Carlson, Gregory Fulkerson, Andreas Henkel, Marilyn Nims, Stephen Secan, Charles Wetherbee, Eugenia Zuckerman, Caroline Hong and Linda Nolan.
Click here to see the 2011-2012 Youth Orchestra Concert Schedule
2011-2012 Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestra. Photo Credit: J. Cover, Reflections Photography.
