Session 2 Begins

Session 2 is underway and day 1 was action packed for our middle school age musicians. After enjoying the perfect weather outside they were off to Orchestra Class, followed by classes like Theory, Folk Guitar, and Hand Chimes.

Did you know we offer internship opportunities to our students every summer? We are proud to employ a handful of BYSO students every year during the summer camps to help coach our younger campers. We tracked down a couple of our interns to learn a little more about their experiences with BYSO Summer Camp.

Kyle Hersey will start attending PLU this fall and has been a Cellist with us for years. "I like working with kids, especially when I can help teach them something I enjoy. Music is an opportunity for them to connect with themselves and eachother. I was an intern last year, and would not pass up another opportunity to work with the young musicians."

Lydia Hsu of Redmond High School is a Violinist who joined BYSO last year, and decided to apply for the internship because she enjoyed camp so much. "I wanted the opportunity to help kids with their musical skills, and allow them to have as much fun as I did."

Thanks guys and glad to hear things are going well. If you know of anybody who may be interested in an internship position please contact our office: 425-467-5604 for details.

We would also like to remind you of the special concert for Session 2 that will take place at the Bellevue Artsfair this Friday 7/23 at 3:15 pm. The concert will be held in Bel-Square Mall's Center Court and will feature a variety of performances that campers have learned over the past week. Please invite family and friends to this free event and stay after the performance to enjoy the Artsfair.

Note to Parents: Because we can not provide transportation from Jubilee Reach Center to the Artsfair please be sure to pick your students up promptly from camp at 2:30pm to get them to Bel-Square by 3:00pm sharp because traffic may be backed-up in downtown Bellevue that afternoon. Staff will be on hand to direct students to the green room when you arrive in Center Court.

Scenes from Session 1

Greetings from BYSO Summer Camp 2010:

We will be filling you in on all the action from Jubilee Reach Center over the next few weeks. Check back often for new news and photos.

A little rain didn't get our session 1 campers down on day 1. Check in was a breeze, then the busy day was officially underway. Our elementary school age campers didn't miss a beat during String Sectional, Orchestra, or any of our small group workshops such as African Drums, and Folk Fiddling. There was plenty of time for outdoor games, fits of giggling, picnicing, and coaching from our fun team of summer interns, all of whom are BYSO Summer Camp Alumni! Campers are now gearing up for the grand finale this Friday 7/16 at the Jubilee Reach Center. It will be an outdoor concert open to family and friends. The forecast calls for highs in the mid-70s so be sure to bring some sunscreen!

Traditional Irish Flute

Sandra Saathoff (BYSO's flute conductor) shares some of her recent experiences in Ireland:

Macroom, Ireland was the first destination of our trip so I could take lessons with Conal O' Grada. He is a music professor at a university in Cork and a very fabulous flute player and teacher!
I had two 2 hour long lessons with him -it's very humbling to feel like a beginner once again! But I appreciated his patience and good humor as I attempted to figure out cuts, pats, tickles, and rolls -while still playing all the right notes at the right time. Not to mention tone (slightly different/more edgy) breathing (must be rhythmic!) and style! Plus, it turns out learning "by ear" is more difficult than I remembered!
The highlight of my week was on Tuesday. After my first lesson, Conal invited me to go with him to the city of Cork that evening, where he and some friends were going to play an Irish music "session" at a pub near his university. It was amazing! Great fun to see the music taken apart during the lesson, then put together again that evening in performance! It was a fantastic atmosphere -very friendly people; spontaneous singing and dancing; and the music was incredible! In addition to Conal, there was another flutist ( a former saxophonist from New Hampshire) and 2 fiddle players, 2 Bodhran (hand drum) players, and a guitarist. Quite memorable!

BYSO Summer Campers at the BAM Artsfair!

Mark your calendars for the 2010 Bellevue Art Museum's Artsfair running July 23-25. Artsfair is the most prestigious juried fine arts and crafts event in the Northwest, and the largest free community event on the Eastside. The event will feature over 300 artist's booths with mediums ranging from painting and sculpture, to wearables and wood. You can stop at the Kidsfair which features hands on projects before heading over to the Sound and Movement Stage to see our session 2 campers perform on 7/23 at 3:15pm. Stay to hear performances by the Bellevue Philharmonic and others.

For a complete listing of performers check the Eastside Arts Coalition's website here: http://www.eastsidearts.org/fair/index_html

Composition Contest Winners

In 2008 BYSO established the C. Keith Birkenfeld Composition Contest with funds from the C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust in conjunction with the Seattle Foundation. This annual contest's purpose is to inspire students and showcase young talent by offering them the challenge of creating an origional composition for orchestral instruments that is suitable for professional level performance, and for the benefit of each division of BYSO, which we know spans various skill levels and age groups.

Mr. Birkenfeld was known in Bellevue for his community involvement as an educator at Bellevue High School for over 20 years, and administrator with Bellevue Public Schools, and as a board member of the Bellevue Art Museum. Mr. Birkenfeld established the Trust at the Seattle Foundation before he passed away in September of 2005. Among Mr. Birkenfeld's known attributes -educator, world traveler, and philanthropist -was his great appreciation of classical music.

This year's competition judges were Samuel Jones, of the Young Composers Workshop of Seattle Symphony, for the Youth Symphony; Alan Futterman of Music Academy Northwest and former BYSO music director for the Sinfonia division; John Paul Lowrie for the Dubut String Orchestra; and Paul Taub of Cornish School of the Arts for the Flute Orchestra. The winning composers worked with the judges to fine-tune their compositions and met with BYSO students to talk about their experience in the creative process.

This Years winners are:
Kyle Hanks: "Rhapsody" for Youth Symphony
Jason Wang: "March Overture" for Sinfonia
Ethan Paik Marzban: "The Chase" for Debut String Orchestra
Brendan McMullen: "Hortus Pulcher" for Flute Orchestra

You can see these amazing pieces performed live during our final Showcases of the season on 5/17 for "The Chase" and 5/24 for "Hortus Pulcher," "March Overture," and "Rhapsody" at First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue. 7:00pm. Visit our website for more details.

Right in Our Own Backyard

An article in the Seattle Times reminded us that there really are a lot of enriching, unique music performances and experiences in the Seattle area. Sometimes it can be easy to forget that the UW offers, not only, interesting student performances, but brings in world renowned guest artists and performers, often at very affordable ticekt prices.



You might want to bookmark http://www.artsuw.org/ so the next time you are making family plans for the weekend you can see what's happening right in our own backyard.