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Letter to the editor

Youth orchestras share sounds of the season

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 2, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - For 50 years the Pinellas Youth Symphony has been nurturing an appreciation for classical music.

The organization aims to provide students in kindergarten through junior college with an environment that builds self-esteem andself-discipline.

The symphony will perform its holiday concert today at the Palladium Theater. The show will feature all four of the musical groups that make up the nonprofit organization.

Highlights of the concert will include Thomas Tallis' Fantasia On A Theme; Ralph V. Williams' For Double String Orchestra and String Quartet; Franz Liszt's Les Preludes; and Mikhail Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Llyudmila.

Founded in 1958, the organization has grown from a single orchestra to four distinctive orchestras. The Pinellas Youth Symphony, the Serenade Strings, the Pinellas Youth Philharmonic and the Symphonic Strings each offers students of various expertise exposure to many aspects of the performance arts.

Advanced level musicians can also participate in chamber ensembles and beginning string classes in violin, cello and bass are offered to students age 5-14 with noprior experience.

Many of top youth musicians from around Pinellas County perform with the youth symphony under the direction of Dr. Susan Robinson. The orchestra is comprised of string, wind, and percussion musicians performing at least six concerts each year including a side-by-side concert with the Florida Orchestra.

Tuition is charged but there are need-based scholarships available. No students are turned down because of inability to pay. Limited scholarships are granted to students who wish to participate in summer music programs throughout the country.

In honor of its 50th anniversary, the symphony is sending an orchestra made up of about 55 senior level musicians to tour and perform in Italy and Austria in June 2008.

If you go

Let the music play

What: Holiday concert by local youth orchestras

When: 4 p.m. today

Where: Palladium Theater, 253 Fifth Ave. N, St. Petersburg

Admission:$7, $1.50 for children and students

For information about the performance, call 822-3590. To contact the symphony, call 438-3149.

[Last modified December 1, 2007, 22:17:59]