The PRogram

The Mission Statement

The Glendale Youth Symphony mission is to foster and cultivate the highest level of performance of orchestral music in students living in Los Angeles County through student-centered mentorship and instruction.

Auditions

Students must prepare two excerpts that best demonstrate their musical skills. The student must also play two scales from our scale list, which can be found on the website. Full details can be found by clicking here.

General Requirements

In order for a student to become eligible for auditions, the student must:

• Be at least 13 years old

• Be taking private lessons for at least 6 months AND/OR performing with their music program a their local school

• Have at least 3 years of instrument experience (special arrangements can be worked out)

We expect our students to bring their personal or school instruments to rehearsals. If you do not have an instrument for use, please contact Dr. Fernandez.

Attendance

As an orchestra dedicated to music performance, we believe that participating in rehearsals is key to building the student’s musicianship and ensemble skills. However, we also care about our musicians mental health and circumstances.

A student can miss four rehearsals that are unexcused per semester. This includes doing homework, studying for an exam, or traveling with friends. For students who are feeling ill or have a conflicting schedule at school, like a field trip, you can contact Dr. Fernandez to excuse your absence. If you need to miss a rehearsal, please contact him at least a week in advance.

Rehearsals

All our rehearsals are every Tuesday’s at Glendale Community College from 4:45 PM to 6:45 PM.

Glendale Community College: 1500 N Verdugo Rd, Glendale, CA 91208

Concertos, Chamber Groups and Outside Opportunities

What makes this orchestra unique is that students are offered many opportunities to enhance their performance skills. Below are examples of the events where our students performed besides our main concert.

The Concerto and Chamber Concert

Every year, students are given the opportunity to become a soloist or musician in a small group for a concert that is held in May. Students have one year to practice their music and are given personalized feedback from our directors and guest instructors. Students who want to play in small groups can collaborate with other musicians for duos, trios, or quartets. Students groups can play any music genre, like film, jazz, and classical.

Paid Gigs

For students who are interested in having music as their potential career, we connect our students with other people who are in need of musicians for an event. Some events that our musicians played for included wedding celebrations and church events.

Invitational Concerts

Every year, there are orchestras and musical programs that invite us to play with them. Students get to travel around the Los Angeles Area to play for these concerts. Such concerts that we performed in include those with the LA Opera, the Azusa Pacific University Symphony Orchestra, and the Symphony of the Verdugos.