Tuesday, March 31, 2009

BYSO Quartet to Perform at Ten Grands

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!!!

One of the BYSO Quartets will be performing at The Snowman Foundation's Ten Grands Event on April 3rd at Benaroya Hall.

For more information and ticket details go to: http://www.snowmanfoundation.org/?page=teng

The Snowman Foundation has been a strong supporter of BYSO, and we are excited to hear our students have been asked to perform for the second year in a row!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Happy Anniversary Conductor Kempisty!!!


Joseph Kempisty, conductor of Sinfonia, is completing his tenth year with the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra. He is the only current conductor to have worked under all three music directors since the Bellevue Eastside Youth Symphonies merged with Youth Philharmonic Northwest in 1999. We caught up with him at his office at Chinook Middle School, yesterday, where he is the assistant principal. We asked him to comment on the changes that have happened at BYSO and to compare and contrast the three music directors in the last ten years. He replied, “Each director brought their own unique strengths, and each was an integral part in developing the high quality music education program that BYSO has become. Alan Futterman (1994-2001) is still involved in our young composers’ composition contest and does a wonderful job of mentoring these young composers. Adam Stern (2001-2005) brought a vast amount of professionalism and experience that raised our expectations and gave us an exciting new perspective on who we could be. Dr. Teresa Metzger Howe (2005-present) is taking the next step leading BYSO with a skilled hand and attention to integrating BYSO into the greater community. I feel very privileged to have worked with each of these people, and I am glad that I am a part of what they helped to shape – a vibrant youth orchestra program that continues to grow!”

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Sapor Dei String Quartet Performs!

The Sapor Dei String Quartet performs!

4 members of the Youth Orchestra in BYSO have create the Sapor Dei String Quartet and will be performing on behalf of BYSO at an upcoming Bellevue Downtown Association Event on March 19th. Shannon Chen (Violin), Jiho Kang (Violin), Teresa Jiang (Viola), and Isabelle Chu (Cello) are all current members in Youth and are excited about the opportunity to perform as a quartet for an upcoming event.

The Bellevue Downtown Association is hosting a thank you event for all of the new businesses that have opened in downtown Bellevue this year. The Sapor Dei String Quartet will add a nice touch to the event held at Village Bellevue.

Check back for photos from the performance!

Do you have a trio or quartet looking for performance opportunties? We would love to help you find opportunities to play. Please email marketing@byso.org with your groups information today.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Hayden's 'The Creation'

Upcoming Concert combining many local musical performance groups:

The University of Washington Symphony, combined choirs, soloists present Haydn's 'The Creation'

Geoffrey Boers will conduct the University Symphony, Chamber Singers and University Chorale in a performance of one of the most beloved oratorios of all time, Josef Haydn's The Creation, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 13, in Meany Theater.

Haydn was inspired to write the large oratorio during his visits to England in 1791-1792 and 1794-1795, when he heard the oratorios of Handel performed.

The work on the oratorio lasted from October 1796 to April 1798. It was the longest time Haydn had ever spent on a single composition. Explaining this, he wrote, "I spent much time over it because I expect it to last for a long time."

The text for the oratorio -- which tells the story of God's creation of the Earth -- comes from the Bible and from Milton's Paradise Lost. Soloists in the work sing the roles of angels and of Adam and Eve. Faculty artists Joyce Guyer and Thomas Harper are the featured soloists in this performance.

Also on the program is Latvian composer Laureate Peteris Vasks' moving work Dona Nobis Pacem, for string orchestra and chorus.

There will be a pre-concert conversation led by Don Thulean, conductor emeritus of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, from 6:45 to 7:15 p.m. in the Meany Hall West Lobby. The lecture is free, but you must have a ticket for the performance to attend. Tickets are $10 and are available at the Arts Ticket Office, 206-543-4880 or online at http://www.meany.org/.

The full article quoted above can be found at: http://uwnews.org/uweek/article.aspx?visitsource=uwkmail&id=47797

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

A little bit about our winners....

On March 8th, 2009 Audrey Chen and Calvin Chan will perform their winning concertos, but who are these BYSO students? Here's a little info. about this year's winners:

Audrey Chen, of Redmond, is playing the Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor 3rd Movement by Saint-Saens. Audrey started playing cello at the age of eight. “This exciting movement that I am going to perform inspires me with its beautiful melodies and thrilling technique passages. After hearing many great cellists play this concerto, I fell in love with the rich tones of the piece. This concerto is one of my favorite concertos of all the ones I have heard,” shares Audrey.


Calvin Chan, a junior at Interlake High School in the International Baccalaureate program, “picked up the cello…at 11 [year’s old]. “I have been studying cello for 6 years and I now under Ray Davis,” shares Calvin. In addition to his participation in the Bellevue Youth Symphony, Calvin has participated in music programs such as Seattle Youth Symphony, the Academy Chamber Orchestra, and the Academy of Music Northwest. Calvin recently noted, “Lalo's Concerto in D minor has really motivated me to practice much harder as every time I play through it, I finish renewed.” Calvin will play his concerto composition with the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra’s “Youth Symphony.”

We hope you can come join us and watch these winning students perform with the Sinfonia and Youth Orchestras!