- Civic Youth Orchestra
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Year founded 1956 Current location Palomar College City San Diego, CA Civic Youth Orchestra, or CYO, is a San Marcos-based music ensemble program for children in their grade-school and college years. CYO is primarily a tuition-based, semester-long program during the school year, which provides a comprehensive music education for musicians of all skill levels.
Contents
History
Civic Youth Orchestra was originally founded in 1956 as a symphony orchestra for experienced instrumentalists. By 1961, there was a "Training Orchestra" for less advanced musicians; this was the foundation for CYO's Stepping Stone group levels, which currently include wind ensembles and chamber groups. In 1986, a North Area ensemble was formed, which met at Palomar College for rehearsals. This included three string orchestras and eventually also had a wind ensemble. Between 2001 to 2004, new groups were set up at Gompers Secondary School, Our Lady's School, and Grossmont College. Of the three, the first two were after-school string education, whereas the Grossmont College branch was a full ensemble. In 2005, all full ensembles were moved to the North Area at Palomar. Currently, CYO is thinking about expanding to the Temecula/Murrieta area.[1]
Current Ensembles
In CYO, the string ensembles listed from most basic to most advanced are as follows: Primary, Intermediate, Symphonic, and Symphony. Wind players may join the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic, or Symphony. Only Symphonic and Symphony include both strings and winds, and are the most advanced levels in CYO for either.
Primary Strings teaches proper technique, scales, and basic key signatures, preparing students for the Intermediate Orchestra. Rehearsal lasts from 10:00 am to noon. The Primary Strings are currently conducted by Ms. Paula Simmons.[2] Meanwhile, the Intermediate Orchestra simultaneously exposes students to more music theory as well as providing more advanced music. Regular Intermediate rehearsal lasts from 10:00 am to noon. The Chamber is a subset of the main Intermediate, which provides music of a difficulty between that of the regular Intermediate and that of the Symphonic. Chamber members may also be part of the Intermediate while playing in the Chamber. Chamber rehearsal is from 9:00 am to 10:00 am. Both Intermediate and Chamber are conducted by Ms. Rita Steele.[3] The Symphonic is another step up from the Chamber, and includes winds and percussion. This music is more advanced than the music from any prior levels but is less advanced than the music from Symphony. The Symphonic focuses on advanced techniques such as vibrato for woodwinds and strings but takes more of a focus on dynamics and playing style (as examples) as it is expected the students will already know and understand most proper techniques (i.e., holding the instrument and producing a strong sound). Symphonic rehearsal is between 1:00 pm to 3:00. Finally, Symphony is the highest level of CYO, with only the most able musicians. The Symphony almost always plays original music rather than arrangements of pieces, and Symphony members get a chance to travel to Europe with their ensemble every several years. Mr. Robert Gilson conducts both the Symphonic and Symphony Orchestras.[4]
References
- ^ http://www.sandiegocyo.org/history.htm
- ^ http://www.sandiegocyo.org/ensemble_primary_string.htm
- ^ http://www.sandiegocyo.org/ensemble_intermediate.htm
- ^ http://sandiegocyo.org/conductor_Gilson.htm
External links
Categories:- Youth orchestras
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