FSYO PRESENTS POPS IN THE GARDEN March 10

ORLANDO, FL – On Sunday, March 10, 2019, Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras will present its second annual POPS in the Garden concert, paying tribute to the incredible music educators and programs in Central Florida. This concert will bring everyone together for a nice spring afternoon picnic accompanied by an array of POPS music at The Grove at Mead Botanical Gardens. The performance will feature FSYO's Overture Strings, Prelude, Philharmonia, Jazz I, and Jazz II orchestras. You will hear highlights of Chase, Washburn, Strauss, Ellington, and more.

This concert is part of our month-long campaign to raise awareness for Music In Our Schools Month. The goal of Music In Our Schools Month is to promote the profound effect that music education has on students' development. We'd also like to recognize the invaluable contributions of music teachers to the lives of students. During our intermission, we will be taking a moment to recognize all the teachers in attendance to show our appreciation for all they are doing for this community.

We encourage you to come with your blanket and bring a picnic to have with your friends and family. The concert will begin at 3:00 p.m. at The Grove at Mead Botanical Garden - 1500 S Denning Dr, Winter Park, FL 32789. Tickets range from $10 to $15 and can be purchased at http://bit.ly/POPSConcert and for more information visit www.fsyo.org. As always, teachers receive free admission to this concert and most FSYO Season events.

ABOUT FSYO: Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras exists to encourage children and young adults, through the practice and performance of orchestral music, to become passionate leaders, thinkers, and contributors in their local community and beyond. In its 62nd Concert Season. Today, FSYO serves almost 300 students and is comprised of seven ensembles - three symphony orchestras, one string-training orchestra, a chamber orchestra, two jazz orchestras - and two supplementary programs - Stringmania Summer Camp and Sing-Song, String-Along.

FSYO programs are carefully structured to encourage student growth with FSYO throughout their primary and secondary years. Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras full range of ensembles gives each student a place to excel with peers at a similar level, and an opportunity to collaborate with seasoned music professionals on local, national, and international levels. During summers, Symphonic Orchestra students participate in life-changing experiences of organized tours, alternating between international & national travel every other year.

FSYO's Spring Classics Concert Wrap-up

On February 3rd, FSYO held our second annual Spring Classics Concert at Edgewater High School. The concert featured FSYO's Overture Strings, Prelude, and Philharmonia orchestras and recognized the invaluable contributions of classical music. During this concert, our orchestras performed traditional classical music from composers Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Respighi.

Our Philharmonia Orchestra was able to perform a concerto for the second time with an FSYO alum. FSYO Alumnus, Jean-Marie Glazer (cello) is a third-year student at Stetson University, pursuing music performance and chemistry, where he studies cello with David Bjella. The concerto he performed was Petit Concert Pour Mon Garçon and it is a one-movement concertino in C minor.

The concerto was written by his father, Benoit Glazer, for Jean-Marie's 18th birthday gift. Benoit has been a professional musician since 1980 and presents concerts in his home at the Timucua White House located in Winter Park, Florida. The Spring Classics Concert was the premiere of this concerto with a full orchestra.

FSYO Now Accepting Applications for 2019-2020 Season

ORLANDO, FL – The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras is now accepting applications for their upcoming 63rd concert season beginning in August 2019. FSYO is calling for young, high spirited Central Florida musicians to embark on a journey of musical education, inspiration, and development.

FSYO is distinguished as one of the nation's top youth orchestras. Their focus on providing students with a complete educational experience during rehearsals and in a variety of live performance opportunities throughout the year contributes to the students' and program's success. A majority of their alumni have continued onto college, many pursuing music at prestigious schools such as the Juilliard School of Music, Eastman School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, New England Conservatory, among others.

FSYO auditions are for standard orchestral instruments and will be held for both new and returning members. Membership is available for all seven of FSYO's award-winning orchestras. Please take into consideration that each ensemble has a limited number of spots and an audition does not guarantee placement in FSYO. Acceptance and placement is completely merit-based, and those who audition are subjected to meet specific criteria to be considered.

Auditions require that students prepare the specific excerpt listed for the orchestra for which they are auditioning, as well as a one-minute solo of their choice and scales and arpeggios as listed. All auditions are approximately 3–5 minutes long except percussion auditions which are approximately 10 minutes. While it is unlikely, please note that audition judges may ask any candidate to sight read. Applications for the 2019-2020 season are due by April 12, 2019. Additional audition information can be found at www.fsyo.org.

ABOUT FSYO: Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras exists to encourage children and young adults, through the practice and performance of orchestral music, to become passionate leaders, thinkers, and contributors in their local community and beyond. In its 62nd Concert Season. Today, FSYO serves almost 300 students and is comprised of seven ensembles - three symphony orchestras, one string-training orchestra, a chamber orchestra, two jazz orchestras - and two supplementary programs - Stringmania Summer Camp and Sing-Song, String-Along.

FSYO programs are carefully structured to encourage student growth with FSYO throughout their primary and secondary years. Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras full range of ensembles gives each student a place to excel with peers at a similar level, and an opportunity to collaborate with seasoned music professionals on local, national, and international levels. During summers, Symphonic Orchestra students participate in life-changing experiences of organized tours, alternating between international & national travel every other year.

FSYO PRESENTS SPRING CLASSICS Ft. Jean-Marie Glazer, cello

Orlando, FL – On Sunday, February 3, Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras will present our second annual Spring Classics concert which will be held at the Edgewater High School auditorium. The concert will feature FSYO's Overture Strings, Prelude, and Philharmonia orchestras, and intends to recognize the invaluable contributions of classical music. The concert aims to encourage audience appreciation for classical music and the profound effect it has on student development.

FSYO Alumnus, Jean-Marie Glazer (cello), will be the guest artist at this concert, performing Petit Concert Pour Mon Garçon. This concert is the second time the Philharmonia Orchestra will be performing a concerto. Concertos have always been a privilege reserved for the Symphonic Orchestra until last season. Additional pieces that are being performed are by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Respighi.

"Petit Concert Pour Mon Garçon is a one-movement concertino in C minor that is about 10 minutes long. I wrote the cello part in a few hours, but it took me a year to structure the piece and orchestrate it. It was written as a gift for my son Jean-Marie's 18th birthday, although I am afraid he received it a year late.

Jean-Marie was hard at work practicing the Shostakovich cello concerto in the next room when I came up with the cello part, so of course, there are influences. However, I used some devices I have been working on in the past few years into the orchestra parts, such as the quickly shifting tonal centers using simple triads that one will hear clearly in the woodwinds in the middle section. The ending of the piece, with the addition of the choral on top of the cello part and the bubbling, repeated diminished motives, was an experiment in what the brain could process and how much the audience would adjust the balance, having just heard the cello play that same part.

The hope is that the cello part will come through even though the whole orchestra is playing quite loud. We shall find out the result of the experiment when we all hear the piece together for the first time, for which I am grateful to FSYO for making it happen". - Composer, Benoit Glazer

The concert will begin at 4:30 p.m. at Edgewater High School - 3100 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, FL 32804. Tickets range from $10 to $15 and can be purchased at www.fsyo.org. At this time we are happy to offer all furloughed federal employees and their families up to four free tickets per family for this performance. Please call our office at (407) 999-7800 to reserve your tickets. You will need to show a federal ID at the box office the day of the performance. As always, teachers receive free admission to this and most FSYO events.

ABOUT JEAN-MARIE GLAZER: Jean-Marie is a third-year student at Stetson University, pursuing music performance and chemistry, where he studies cello with David Bjella. He has won several competitions in Florida, including the Florida Lakes, Imperial Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, and FSYO's own concerto competition. He studied chamber performance with Charles Wetherbee in Florence, Italy, and often performs with the Space Coast Symphony.

ABOUT BENOIT GLAZER: Benoit Glazer has been a professional musician since 1980, taught at McGill University for a decade, and was the Musical Director at La Nouba, Cirque du Soleil, for 18 years. He writes music for fun, he has scored a few movies and written both jazz and concert music. He and his wife Élaine have been presenting concerts in their home since 2000, and they just had their 800th concert in January. You are always welcome to these concerts, many of which are "pay what you want", and feature musicians from all over the world. Find out more at www.timucua.com. 

ABOUT FSYO: Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras exists to encourage children and young adults, through the practice and performance of orchestral music, to become passionate leaders, thinkers, and contributors in their local community and beyond. In its 62nd Concert Season. Today, FSYO serves almost 300 students and is comprised of seven ensembles - three symphony orchestras, one string-training orchestra, a chamber orchestra, two jazz orchestras - and two supplementary programs - Stringmania Summer Camp and Sing-Song, String-Along.

FSYO programs are carefully structured to encourage student growth with FSYO throughout their primary and secondary years. Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras full range of ensembles gives each student a place to excel with peers at a similar level, and an opportunity to collaborate with seasoned music professionals on local, national, and international levels. During summers, Symphonic Orchestra students participate in life-changing experiences of organized tours, alternating between international & national travel every other year.

Students on the Go | "Florida Keys" Competition

Congratulations to two of our Symphonic Orchestra students Selina Xu and Marianna Valderrama Alvarez who performed at Carnegie Hall during the "Florida Keys" International Music Competition on November 17, 2018. Mariana won second prize in the Strings Solo Devotee category. Selina has in addition to winning second prize in the String Solo Professional Category been invited to perform at a concert held by the "Florida Keys" International Music Competition in Vienna, Austria at the Bösendorfer Hall at the Mozart House. The gala concert in Vienna, Austria, on April 25, 2019.

Selina Xu performing Francouer Sonata in E Major for cello and piano at Carnegie Hall.

Marianna Valderrama Alvarez performing Concerto in C major, Op. 48 for violin and piano at Carnegie Hall.