Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras
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[edit] Overview
The Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (GBYSO) is an organization comprising four orchestras, a chamber music program, and a community program. Members include student musicians of elementary and secondary school age. The orchestras are in residence at Boston University's College of Fine Arts, but perform at a number of locations including Boston's Symphony Hall, Sanders Theater at Harvard University, the Hatch Memorial Shell, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory of Music.
[edit] History
The orchestras were founded in 1958 by Dr. Robert Choate, chairman of the music division of Boston University. Past conductors have included: Marvin Rabin, Dr. Artin Arslanian, Walter Eisenberg, Leonard Atherton, Eiji Oue, and David Commanday. See GBYSO official website for expanded history.
In addition to playing the standard orchestral repertoire, the Orchestras have from time to time commissioned new works. In June 1995, the Senior Orchestra was joined by violinist Lynn Chang and cellist Yo-Yo Ma to perform the world premiere of Ivan Tcherepnin's Double Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Orchestra.
[edit] Orchestras
[edit] Senior Orchestra
The Senior Orchestra is GBYSO's highest level ensemble reserved for players with highly advanced technical and musical skills. Directed by Federico Cortese, who is assisted by Mark Miller, the full symphony orchestra regularly performs in Boston area concert halls and tours internationally every two years. Past tours have included:
- 2006: Spain, Portugal
- 2004: Russia, Estonia, Latvia
- 2002: Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary
- 2000: France
- 1998: England/Ireland
- 1996: Italy
The Senior Orchestra is also divided into the Sinfonietta and Camerata chamber orchestras.
The Senior Orchestra holds a concerto competition each year. The competition winner performs with the orchestra at one of the season's concerts.
[edit] Repertory Orchestra
The Repertory Orchestra is an advanced, full symphony orchestra under the direction of conductor Joel Bard. It performs with the Senior Orchestra at its three main concerts and performs indivudal concerts at Boston University's Tsai Center.
It is divided into the Rep. Sinfonietta and Rep. Comerata chamber orchestras, a change as of the 2005-2006 season.
The Repertory Orchestra also holds a yearly concerto competition. Winners perform their concertos at one of the concerts during the season.
[edit] Junior Repertory Orchestra
The Junior Repertory Orchestra (JRO) was created twelve years ago to foster the development of younger players in intermediate level string ensembles. Due to growth in ability, the JRO is now a full symphonic ensemble.
Members receive group and individual coaching, which enables them to build solid, fundamental technical and musical skills. Adrian Slywotzky began his first season as the JRO conductor in 2006-2007.
[edit] Young People's String Orchestra
The Young People's String Orchestra (YPSO) was created as a training grounds for GBYSO's youngest musicians. Directed by Bonnie Black, this young orchestra performs major repertoire from the standard string orchestra literature while learning the skills needed for excellent orchestral playing. It is an energetic and collaborative ensemble that emphasizes teamwork and leadership development.
