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The Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra or PACO is a youth chamber orchestra based in Palo Alto, California. The emphasis on chamber music sets it apart from other youth orchestras. The orchestra is made up of 5 ensembles (namely SuperStrings, Preparatory, Debut, Sinfonia, and Senior) of about 25 members each who rehearse weekly and perform throughout the year. PACO also conducts international tours with the Senior PACO ensemble occasionally.
The Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra (PACO) was founded in 1966 by violinist William Whitson, who served as its Music Director for 36 years until his untimely death at the age of 62 in 2001. During his long tenure as Music Director, William Whitson conducted PACO on many international tours throughout the world, performing in Canada (1967), the West Indies (1969), North Western U.S. (1971, 1976), Europe (1974, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1996) Australia (1988), the Soviet Union (1990) and China & South Korea (1994.) Over a 30-year span, PACO also hosted the Palo Alto Twilight Concerts and A Bach Celebration! The former was a weekly summer series and the latter a weekly spring series founded by Whitson as performance outlets to feature PACO's many alums turned successful professional musicians. PACO annually held an Ashland Tour, established in 1971 by Whitson, as the featured guest orchestra performing on the outdoor Elizabethan Stage at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
In 2002, violist Benjamin Simon was appointed the role of music director.
The Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (BYSO) is a youth orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts under the artistic leadership of music director, Federico Cortese. Since 1958, BYSO has served thousands of young musicians from throughout New England with three full symphonic orchestras, two young string training orchestras, six chamber orchestras, a preparatory wind ensemble, a chamber music program and a nationally recognized instrument training program for underrepresented youth from inner-city communities called the Intensive Community Program (ICP). The 2017-2018 season marks the celebration of BYSO's 60th Anniversary. Each year, BYSO auditions approximately 850 students from throughout New England, ages 5–18, and accepts nearly 500 young musicians.
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 San Jose Youth Symphony (SJYS) is a non-profit youth orchestra located in San Jose, California.
The National Youth Orchestras of Scotland (NYOS) has a vision where all the communities access world-class ensemble youth music and share in its social, personal, and cultural benefits.
The Tucson Symphony Orchestra, or TSO, is the primary professional orchestra of Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1928, when the season consisted of just two concerts, the TSO is the oldest continuously running performing arts organization in the Southwest. The TSO's season now runs from September to May and consists of over 60 concerts, including a Classics Series of eight programs, a Pops Series of four programs, a Masterworks series of five chamber orchestra programs, a number of one-night only specials, and run-out concerts to surrounding areas, such as Oro Valley, Green Valley, Bisbee, Safford, Thatcher, and Nogales. The TSO also provides educational programming that reaches over 40,000 school children each season. Within the TSO are a number of standing chamber ensembles, including a string quartet, string quintet, piano trio, harp trio, brass quintet, and woodwind quintet. These ensembles help provide educational programming through school visits, perform recitals annually, and also perform at private and community events.
The Richmond Symphony is based in Richmond, Virginia, US and is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia and one of the nation's leading regional orchestras. The organization includes a full-time orchestra with more than 70 musicians, the Richmond Symphony Chorus with 150 volunteer members, and the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs with more than 260 student participants. Each season, approximately 200,000 community members listen to live concerts and radio broadcasts by the Richmond Symphony, and 55,000 students and teachers participate in the Symphony's educational outreach programs.
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, including a joint concert with Tokyo Junior Orchestra Society. Since then, the orchestra has toured Mexico, Australia, Uruguay, Argentina 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. During the summer of 2014, the orchestra toured in Eastern Europe, and performed in Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic. Leo Eylar has been musical director since 1990.
The New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS) is a non-profit organization based in New Providence, New Jersey. Founded in 1979, it provides young instrumentalists from all around New Jersey with music performance and educational experiences. There are three string ensembles, three full symphony orchestras, three flute ensembles, chamber music programs, music theory classes presented in accordance with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (UK), a summer camp, and other various outreach activities. It operates under the auspices of the Wharton Institute of the Performing Arts. The symphony performs regularly in the United States and Europe. Helen Cha-Pyo has served as the artistic director of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts and conductor of the NJYS since July 2018.
The Cleveland Chamber Symphony (CCS) is an American chamber orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio, and which focuses on performing contemporary classical music. Since its inception, CCS has premiered over 200 performances. The ensemble works closely with Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music to support its mission.
The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is a professional touring chamber orchestra founded by Claudio Abbado and former members of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in 1997.
The New Century Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1992 by cellist Miriam Perkoff and violist Wieslaw Pogorzelski. The goal of the founders was to present classical music in a fresh and unique way in the San Francisco Bay Area. The music director chooses the programs and guides the artistic vision and leads the seventeen members of the orchestra as part of a conductorless orchestra. Musical decisions are made collaboratively, in the goal of enhancing the level of commitment on the part of the musicians and increasing the precision, passion and power of their playing.
The Indianapolis Youth Orchestra is an organization in Indianapolis, Indiana that exists "to develop the musical talent and nurture the personal growth of young people in Indianapolis and central Indiana through the rehearsal and performance of orchestral masterworks, both traditional and contemporary." The Indianapolis Youth Orchestra was founded by Susan Kitterman in 1982 and currently consists of three separate orchestras:
Andor John Toth was an American classical violinist, conductor and educator with a musical career spanning over six decades. Toth played his violin on the World War II battlefields of Aachen, Germany; performed with the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini in 1943 at age 18; and formed several chamber music ensembles, including the Oberlin String Quartet, the New Hungarian Quartet, and the Stanford String Quartet. For 15 years he was the violinist in the Alma Trio. Toth conducted orchestras in Cleveland, Denver and Houston. In 1969, he was the founding concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra under Neville Marriner. Toth taught at five important colleges and universities, and recorded for Vox, Decca Records and Eclectra Records.
Paul Dean is an Australian clarinetist, composer and conductor
Odaline de la Martinez is a Cuban-American composer and conductor, currently residing in the UK. She is the artistic director of Lontano, a London-based contemporary music ensemble which she co-founded in 1976 with New Zealander flautist Ingrid Culliford, and was the first woman to conduct at the BBC Promenade Concerts in 1984. As well as frequent appearances as a guest conductor with leading orchestras throughout Great Britain, including all the BBC orchestras, she has conducted several leading ensembles around the world, including the Ensemble 2e2m in Paris; the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; the Australian Youth Orchestra; the OFUNAM and the Camerata of the Americas in Mexico; and the Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. She is also known as a broadcaster for BBC Radio and Television and has recorded extensively for several labels.
Victoria Ellen Bond is an American conductor and composer in New York City.
The Flint Institute of Music, also called the FIM, is located in the Flint Cultural Center in Flint, Michigan. It is ranked as the 8th largest community music school in the United States. FIM is made up of the Flint Symphony Orchestra, Flint School of Performing Arts, and Flint Repertory Theatre; as well as the Whiting Auditorium and Capitol Theatre. FIM offers lessons, classes, ensembles, and camps for all levels for ages 3 years to adults. Students perform in the dance and performance ensembles such as Flint Youth Symphony Orchestra, Flint Youth Ballet Ensemble, Flint Youth Theatre, Dort Honors Quartet, and Improv Squad, among several others. The Flint Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Conductor Enrique Diemecke, performs a full season of classical concerts as well as free Music in the Park concerts at Genesee area parks in the Summer season. Additionally, the FIM sponsors the Holiday Pops concert every holiday season, featuring the Flint Symphony Orchestra, Flint Festival Chorus, and local choirs. FIM's production of the Nutcracker ballet has been a local tradition for over 40 years.
Bernard Howard Gilmore was an American composer, conductor, French horn player, and Professor Emeritus of music at the University of California, Irvine. He is best known for his compositions, including Five Folk Songs for Soprano and Band which has become a reputable work in contemporary band music repertoire.
Black conductors are musicians of African, Caribbean, African-American ancestry and other members of the African diaspora who are musical ensemble leaders who direct classical music performances, such as an orchestral or choral concerts, or jazz ensemble big band concerts by way of visible gestures with the hands, arms, face and head. Conductors of African descent are rare, as the vast majority are male and Caucasian.
The National Youth Orchestra of China is a full symphony youth orchestra composed of approximately 100 Chinese musicians aged 14 to 21 years old. Students from all over China audition to participate in a two-week training residency before performing alongside a renowned soloist and conductor in premier venues throughout the world.