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Daniel Meyer, PYSO Music Director |
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Lawrence Loh, PYSO Co-Principal Conductor
Photo by Dan Loh |
| DONATE TO PYSO |
Since tickets are free, we must rely upon the generosity of individuals such as you to make donations that will help to cover our expenses.
To make a tax-deductible donation to PYSO, mail a check to PYSO, 600 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 or donate online with your credit card and PayPal. Investments in youth and community
have an enormously positive effect and can last a lifetime! | |
World Premiere of "Mary Lou" on May 3 - 3:00 PM at Heinz Hall
The Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra will finish the 2008-09 season with the world premiere of Mary Lou: Four Symphonic Memories of Mary Lou Williams, commissioned by and written for PYSO by the eminent and distinguished composer John Harbison.
Born as Mary Elfrieda Scruggs in Atlanta, Mary Lou Williams grew up in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Williams wrote and arranged for such greats as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. She recorded over a hundred records.
This commission was underwritten by The Bergstrom Foundation in honor of Agnes Dodds Kinard. Mrs. Kinard is a long-time champion of the arts in Pittsburgh who for many years was a dedicated member of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors and is currently an Emertius Director of PYSO.  PYSO Concerto Competition winner Lana Greenawald will perform Ravel's showpiece for harp Introduction and Allegro. Lana is a senior at Duquesne University where she studies with Gretchen Van Hoesen. This is Lana's second and final season with PYSO. Also on the program are Richard Strauss' most popular tone poem Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks and Hindemith's monumental Symphonic Metamorphoses. Daniel Meyer and Lawrence Loh once again share the podium, in Mr. Meyer's final concert after seven seasons with PYSO.
The concert is free, but ticket are required for admission.
Concert length is approximately two hours including one intermission. Appropriate for adults, families, school age students and older.
General admission and open seating, except for stage boxes and front of grand tier. |
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Advanced Chamber Music Seminar
An Advanced Chamber Music Seminar will take place July 19 - 24, 2009 at the beautiful Shady Side Academy Fox Chapel campus.
This NEW seminar is being presented by the Pittsburgh Symphony Musicians in cooperation with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and Shady Side Academy.
Application deadline with six big bonuses is April 25th.
Space is limited, so hurry to secure your your spot.
Apply on line at: www.ChamberMusicPro.com
For information call Mikhail Istomin at 412-848-0367 |
Auditions for the 2009-10 Season
The next round of annual auditions - for the 2009-10 season - will take place in April 2009 at Heinz Hall. Advanced students up to and including college age may apply. Each audition will begin with a solo of choice (normally no more than one minute will be heard) and should be something that shows each player to the best of his or her ability. The rest of the audition will be the orchestral excerpts specified on our website under auditions and membership.
Strings - Sunday, April 26, 2009 - 2:00 to 7:00 PM
Woodwinds - Monday, April 27, 2009 - 5:00 to 9:00 PM
Brass, Percussion, Piano, Harp - Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - 5:00 to 9:00 PM |
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Garden Tea Party and Farewell
On June 20, 2009, PYSO will be honoring Daniel Meyer at a Garden Tea Party in Heinz Hall's Garden Plaza. Small ensemble groups from PYSO will provide entertaining music. Guests will enjoy a traditional tea party menu prepared by The Common Plea while perusing a large variety of silent auction and raffle items. Jim Cunningham from WQED FM Radio will emcee.
After seven seasons, the May 3 performance will be Daniel Meyer's final concert as PYSO Music Director, as he will be leaving Pittsburgh to pursue other exciting career opportunities. Our co-principal conductor, Lawrence Loh will take over for Mr. Meyer in the fall of 2009. Proceeds from this fundraiser will be used to support PYSO's educational programs You can purchase tickets from any PYSO Board member. Please call the PYSO office at 412-392-4872 for more information. Follow these links to purchase tickets online and to donate auction items. |
Masterclasses and Workshops
 The Biava String Quartet presented a mini recital and masterclass for PYSO members on February 7 at Heinz Hall. They played a movement from a Mendelssohn Quartet and then coached PYSO's Montgomery Fellowship Quartet (Diana Shi, Erika Pinkerton, Catherine Schilling, and Jeffrey Lin) on Dvorak's American Quartet. The violist in the Biava Quartet is Mary Persin, a PYSO alumna and former principal violist. The quartet is currently in residence at the Juilliard School.
 The Pittsburgh Piano Trio presented a masterclass led by Mikhail Istomin for PYSO members on April 4, coaching Alex Lee, Olivia Ren, Catherine Schilling, and Eleanor Lee while other PYSO string players observed.
PYSO's Audition Workshop took place on March 21 with thirty-six students participating - playing their audition excerpts in front of their peers and picking up pointers from PYSO coaches who listened. |
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PYSO in the Community
PYSO members performed at Pittsburgh's Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) High School on February 23. The audience was comprised of students from St. Benedict the Moor School as well as CAPA.
The Montgomery Quartet played for the Homeless Children's Education Fund 10 th Annual Champions for Children Benefit on March 9th, held at the Rivers Club.
Several groups made up of a number of PYSO members performed on different dates in April for the brand new Pittsburgh Children's Hospital and Children's Hospital Foundation: Salem Hilal (cello), Jad Hilal (violin), Laura Block (flute), Hope Vanucci (violin), Luke Plizga (bassoon), Jeremy Malvin (marimaba), Bill Delelles (marimba) , Erika Pinkerton (violin) Klara Pinkerton (cello), as well as guests Teea Kokkonen (flute), Leila Hilal (violin), and Olivia Hilal (viola).
PYSO has been invited to provide musicians for the Pittsburgh preview of The Soloist, a film that opens this month all over the U.S. It is based on a series of columns that originally ran in the Los Angeles Times about Nathaniel Ayres, a musically gifted but mentally ill musician.
Violinist Erika Pinkerton, cellist Klara Pinkerton, and flutist Teea Kokkonen presented a program in March for the youngsters at Kids and Us Pre-School in Greentree, performing solos and trios, demonstrating the instruments, and offering some background about themselves as musicians.
Friends of the PSO, a support group of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, enjoyed music played by Catherine Schilling (viola), Erika Pinkerton (violin), and Jeffrey Lin (cello) during their most recent gathering that featured speaker Ettore Volontiere, Manager for Conductor Gianandrea Noseda and the PSO's Rachmaninoff Festival.
Several groups from PYSO will provide music in the lobby of Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland, prior to the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society's Pacifica Quartet Concert on April 26 and 27. |
 Wish ListDo you have a gently used contrabassoon at home? Most orchestras own their own large instruments and PYSO is in need of certain orchestral instruments, in particular the grand daddy of the woodwind section, the contrabassoon. If you can donate any of the items below, of if you know of anyone who can, we'd love to hear from you! Donations are of course tax deductible.
Instruments Needed: contrabassoon, vibraphone, chimes, harp
Other Needs: music stands (heavy black or wire folding), tuxedo jackets |
T his newsletter was sent to you by the staff
of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Craig Johnson, Executive Director and Newsletter Editor
Daniel Meyer, Music Director
Lawrence Loh, Co-Principal Conductor
Eve Goodman, Program Manager
Georgina Gutierrez, Tour Manager
Craig Johnson Photo by Regina Callahan
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