California Youth Symphony
Encyclopedia
California Youth Symphony (CYS) is a San Francisco Bay Area
symphony orchestra for young musicians of high school
age and younger. It was founded in 1952 by Aaron Sten and in 1963 became the first United States youth orchestra to tour abroad, performing twelve concerts in Japan. Since then, the orchestra has toured Mexico, Australia, and several countries in Europe and Asia. In 1994, the orchestra placed first in the International Youth and Music Festival Competition in Vienna
. The orchestra has also collaborated with youth orchestras in Japan and in Switzerland. Leo Eylar has been musical director since 1990. The California Youth Symphony Senior Orchestra's Co-Concertmasters are currently Ryan Luo and Helen Wu.
, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade
, and Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.
, Béla Bartók
, Dmitri Shostakovich
, Aaron Copland
, George Gershwin
, Leonard Bernstein
, Sergei Prokofiev
, and many ohers. CYS has also premiered many modern works, including music director Leo Eylar's Rhapsody for Orchestra, a piece nominated for the Pulitzer Prize
.
CYS has also recorded a number of CDs, the most recent one recorded during the 2010-2011 season. More information regarding CYS recordings is available on the California Youth Symphony website, listed below. Sound samples are also available on the same page.
, and mainly comprise middle school students, along with some high school students. The Wind Preparatory Ensembles are under the direction of Rosita Amador. They are entitled "preparatory" because they serve to prepare the younger wind players for the more advanced full orchestras. The orchestration is typical, including flutes, oboes, clarinets, saxophones, bassoons, trumpets, French horns, trombones, and (tubas) (in relatively accurate score order). The group performs two concerts a year.
usually graduate to this orchestra, should they choose to stay in the institution, therefore rendering it a sort of convergent ensemble. The Associate Orchestra plays medium-difficult repertoire, and has typical orchestration
.
This ensemble serves as an arena for younger, less-experienced musicians to gain incomparable experience in the world of performance and to prepare them for advancement to the CYS Senior Orchestra. The repertoire is varied and serves as a valuable introduction to the orchestral experience. The CYS Associate Orchestra performs 3 to 4 concerts per year. Members attend a summer day camp in August.
.
CYS Flute Ensemble/Wind Prep I/Beginning Strings-->CYS Flute Ensemble/Wind Prep II/Intermediate Strings-->Associate Orchestra-->CYS Senior Orchestra
Non-Convergent (not part of the general promotion system): CYS Percussion Ensemble
CYS attracts some of the Bay Area's most talented young musicians, at all levels. It is a non-profit organization
.
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
symphony orchestra for young musicians of high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
age and younger. It was founded in 1952 by Aaron Sten and in 1963 became the first United States youth orchestra to tour abroad, performing twelve concerts in Japan. Since then, the orchestra has toured Mexico, Australia, and several countries in Europe and Asia. In 1994, the orchestra placed first in the International Youth and Music Festival Competition in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The orchestra has also collaborated with youth orchestras in Japan and in Switzerland. Leo Eylar has been musical director since 1990. The California Youth Symphony Senior Orchestra's Co-Concertmasters are currently Ryan Luo and Helen Wu.
History and tours
The California Youth Symphony, or CYS for short, is one of the first youth symphony orchestras established in California and comprises some of the state's most musically talented youth. It was founded in 1952, and since 1963 has toured several countries around the globe, a semi-annual tradition, and most recently completed a tour to Japan with performances of Gershwin's An American in ParisAn American in Paris
An American in Paris is a symphonic tone poem by the American composer George Gershwin, written in 1928. Inspired by the time Gershwin had spent in Paris, it evokes the sights and energy of the French capital in the 1920s. It is one of Gershwin's best-known compositions.Gershwin composed the piece...
, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade
Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)
Sheherazade , Op. 35, is a symphonic suite composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1888. Based on One Thousand and One Nights, sometimes known as The Arabian Nights, this orchestral work combines two features common to Russian music and of Rimsky-Korsakov in particular: dazzling, colourful...
, and Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini.
Repertoire
CYS is notable for its challenging repertoire that includes works by Igor StravinskyIgor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
, Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
, and many ohers. CYS has also premiered many modern works, including music director Leo Eylar's Rhapsody for Orchestra, a piece nominated for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
.
CYS has also recorded a number of CDs, the most recent one recorded during the 2010-2011 season. More information regarding CYS recordings is available on the California Youth Symphony website, listed below. Sound samples are also available on the same page.
Related ensembles
The CYS comprises several ensembles. In addition to the CYS Orchestra, there is an intermediate level Associate Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Flute Ensemble and Preparatory Ensembles for strings and winds. Overall, CYS musicians number over 500 from the greater San Francisco Bay Area, ranging from elementary school students to high school seniors. Composer-conductor Leo Eylar conducts the Associate Orchestra and the Senior Orchestra, the CYS premier orchestra.Wind Preparatory Ensembles
There are two Wind Preparatory (Wind Prep, for short) Ensembles that function as large symphonic bandsConcert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
, and mainly comprise middle school students, along with some high school students. The Wind Preparatory Ensembles are under the direction of Rosita Amador. They are entitled "preparatory" because they serve to prepare the younger wind players for the more advanced full orchestras. The orchestration is typical, including flutes, oboes, clarinets, saxophones, bassoons, trumpets, French horns, trombones, and (tubas) (in relatively accurate score order). The group performs two concerts a year.
CYS Junior and Intermediate Preparatory String Ensembles
With Junior and Intermediate levels, the CYS String Preparatory Program provides string music instruction and ensemble experiences for younger musicians and prepares them to advance to the CYS Associate Orchestra. Under the direction of Kati Kyme, the CYS Intermediate String Ensemble performs 2 concerts per year.Associate Orchestra
The Associate Orchestra CYS' intermediate level symphony-orchestra. Members of the 2nd Wind Prep Ensemble and the Intermediate StringsString section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
usually graduate to this orchestra, should they choose to stay in the institution, therefore rendering it a sort of convergent ensemble. The Associate Orchestra plays medium-difficult repertoire, and has typical orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
.
This ensemble serves as an arena for younger, less-experienced musicians to gain incomparable experience in the world of performance and to prepare them for advancement to the CYS Senior Orchestra. The repertoire is varied and serves as a valuable introduction to the orchestral experience. The CYS Associate Orchestra performs 3 to 4 concerts per year. Members attend a summer day camp in August.
Senior Orchestra
The CYS Senior Orchestra is CYS' premier ensemble. It collectivizes some the most advanced players from the other CYS ensembles, as well as some not in CYS at all. It tours semiannually, under the baton of Maestro Leo Eylar, former co-concertmaster of the San Jose SymphonySan Jose Symphony
The San Jose Symphony Orchestra was a symphony orchestra performing in San Jose, California. It performed in the Civic Auditorium through 1971, and the Center for the Performing Arts afterwards until its suspension and dissolution in 2001...
.
Flute Choir
Under the direction of Rosita Amador, the CYS Flute Ensemble provides flute instruction for younger players, preparing them to advance to the CYS Associate Orchestra. The group performs two concerts per year.Percussion Ensemble
Under the direction of Artie Storch, the CYS Percussion Ensemble is a unique forum for talented musicians through grade 12. Members of the Ensemble study an exciting repertoire and perform in the Ensemble's 2-3 CYS concerts each year and at other music events around the Bay Area. In addition, students learn about and improve their techniques on a variety of percussion instruments. Membership is open to both members of the CYS orchestras and to other musicians.Auditions
Newcomers must audition to get in and those that are already in the symphony do not need to audition yearly to stay in. CYS members can promote to higher levels. The CYS levels of advancement might be portrayed as follows:CYS Flute Ensemble/Wind Prep I/Beginning Strings-->CYS Flute Ensemble/Wind Prep II/Intermediate Strings-->Associate Orchestra-->CYS Senior Orchestra
Non-Convergent (not part of the general promotion system): CYS Percussion Ensemble
CYS attracts some of the Bay Area's most talented young musicians, at all levels. It is a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
.