Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra

CONTACT:

855 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
617-353-5338
www.bysoweb.org

Catherine Weiskel, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

It's about artistic excellence and providing a nurturing environment for student musicians. GBYSO, founded in 1958, is an independent organization in residence at the Boston University School for the Arts. Every year it auditions nearly 700 students, ages 6 to 18, with 85 percent from public schools. More than 350 musicisans are accepted into one of four progressively structured orchestras, while an additional 50 are trained in its Intensive Community Program, which offers free lessons, use of instruments, and theory classes to low-income students from Boston's disadvantaged neighborhoods. The GBYSO students give about 20 performances yearly to audiences in excellent venues in and around Boston — Symphony Hall, Sanders Theatre, Jordan Hall, and the Hatch Memorial Shell. Every other year, the Senior Orchestra tours internationally. National Public Radio's Performance Today ranked GBYSO one of the five best youth symphony orchestras in the nation, and in 2003, it won the Massachusetts Cultural Council Commonwealth Award, the state's highest honor in the arts. They have been invited to perform in 2008 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, a world-class classical music venue. Earned income covers less than half of GBYSO's expenses; the rest is philanthropy, and GBYSO needs your help.

(1999: CULTURE: Arts: Performing: Music and Dance)