A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first and second violin players, the viola, the cello, and usually, but not always, the double bass.
Derek David Bourgeois was an English composer.
The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras (FSYO) is a music education program in Central Florida, consisting of six primary ensembles with nearly 300 student musicians. FSYO is the oldest operating youth symphony in the state of Florida and is believed to be the 3rd oldest in the southeastern United States. It was originally affiliated with the now-defunct Florida Symphony Orchestra.
The octobass is an extremely large and rare bowed string instrument that was first built around 1850 in Paris by the French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875). It has three strings and is essentially a larger version of the double bass. Because of the extreme fingerboard length and string thickness, the musician plays it using a system of levers and pedals. It has never been produced on a large scale or used much by composers. In addition to the Paris instrument, octobasses exist in the collections of the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO) is an orchestral Music Education organization in Chicago, Illinois that was founded in 1946 to provide music education and instrumental training of the highest quality to Chicago area youth.
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Springfield, Massachusetts. It performs at Symphony Hall, a part of the Springfield Municipal Group.
The Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra (VYSO) is an orchestra for the youths located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The VYSO operates out of St. James Community Square, and is a non-profit organization that performs a series of concerts to raise money for various charities. It also provides musical education and development for young musicians. VYSO participates in many local, national, and international festivals, and it usually represents Vancouver. Its music director is Roger Cole.
Marjan Mozetich is a Canadian composer. Mozetich has written music for theatre, film and dance, as well as many symphonic works, chamber music, and solo pieces. He has also written compulsory competition pieces for the 1992 Banff String Quartet Competition and the 1995 Montreal International Music Competition. Co-founder of Arraymusic in Toronto, Mozetich served as their artistic director from 1976 to 1978. After his work with Array, he worked for some time at the University of Toronto music library, and he then became a freelance composer. Mozetich moved to Howe Island, near Kingston, Ontario, and has taught composition at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario from 1991 to 2010. He has won several awards, including the first prize in the CAPAC (SOCAN)-Sir Ernest MacMillan Award. His major compositions include Fantasia... sul linguaggio perduto, and Postcards from the Sky.
The Symphony Six were a group of Canadian musicians under contract to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) who were denied entry to the United States for a concert tour in November 1951. Coming at the height of the McCarthy era in the US, the six musicians – Ruth Budd, Dirk Keetbaas, William Kuinka, Abe Mannheim, John Moskalyk, and Steven Staryk – were denied visas on the suspicion of being involved in communist activities. The TSO sent other musicians in their place and completed its tour. The six musicians resumed playing with the orchestra upon its return to Canada.
Bruce Edward Holder Sr. was a Canadian composer, conductor, and violinist. He helped to conduct, teach, and found many music groups, including Symphony New Brunswick, the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, and the Third Field Artillery Band, which earned him his nickname, Mr. Music of Saint John.
The Sacramento Youth Symphony (SYS) was founded in 1956 as a 55-member youth orchestra, associated with the Sacramento Symphony Association. The Sacramento Symphony has since ceased operations and the Sacramento Youth Symphony became incorporated as an independent, 501(c) 3 non-profit organization in 1991. The SYS has evolved from one orchestra to beginning, intermediate and advanced orchestras.
The League of American Orchestras, formerly the American Symphony Orchestra League, is a North American Musical Organization consisting of a network of approximately 800 orchestras. Each year, the League presents the Gold Baton Award and the Helen M. Thompson Award. The League is a leading force in work on legislation regarding orchestras and support for the arts.
Eugene-Springfield Youth Orchestras are the major youth orchestras serving Eugene, Oregon, United States and surrounding areas.
The Kingston Symphony Orchestra was a Canadian orchestra based in Kingston, Ontario that was active from 1914 to 1936. It was founded by composer and conductor Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann, who served as the ensembles only conductor. When he retired in 1936 the orchestra disbanded.
The Richmond Delta Youth Orchestra (RDYO) is a respected orchestral training program for young musicians located in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. The RDYO was formerly known as the Delta Youth Orchestra. The name was changed in March 2013. In September 2014 moved its base to Richmond, British Columbia. It previously rehearsed at the Ladner Community Centre, 4734 - 51st Street, Delta, British Columbia. The RDYO is sponsored by the BC Youth Music Society (formerly the Delta Symphony Society which is a registered non-profit charity and the society provides this orchestral and chamber music training program for young musicians from ages 5 to 24 years. The Orchestra was founded in 1971 by Harry Gomez, Fred Preuss, Charles Glushka, Anita Sleeman, and Aileen Docherty.
Brian Jackson is a British-Canadian conductor, organist and pianist. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1974. Until 2012 he was Principal Pops Conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Orchestra London, and the Victoria Symphony.
Metropolitan Youth Symphony is a youth orchestra organization in Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Ruth June Budd is a Canadian bassist. She became Canada's first professional female bassist when she joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1947. She was also known as a member of the Symphony Six, a group of six musicians under contract to the Toronto orchestra who were denied entry to the United States for a concert tour under suspicion of leftist activities.
(Ernest) John Robertson is a New Zealand born Canadian composer of concert music. He received his preliminary musical educational as part of his schooling in New Zealand. Upon emigrating to Canada in 1967 he took a position in the general insurance business but in the mid 1970s he embarked on a course of private study in composition and counterpoint at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto with Dr Sam Dolin. In 1987 an entry in a composition competition won him a performance of his Variations for small orchestra Op 14, and since then his music has been heard in Canada, Australia, Mexico, the UK, Sweden and Bulgaria. In 2014 after some orchestral pieces of his were played in Ruse, Bulgaria, the Ruse State Opera asked him to write an opera and the one hour long "Orpheus" was staged there in June 2015 and was revived in February and May 2016, and in June 2017.
