Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra
Listen to SRSYO perform Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Marquez
For advanced players ages 12 yrs – 23 yrs
Thursdays 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM starting in Fall 2023
September – May
Formed in October 1959, as the Sonoma County Junior Symphony, under the direction of founding conductor Eugene Shepherd, the orchestra’s name was changed, in 1994, to the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra and is currently led by Bobby Rogers,who was previously the Conductor of the Aspirante Youth Orchestra since 2011. A graduate of Sonoma State University (B.A. in Music Education and Jazz Performance) and Sacramento State University (M.A. in Wind Conducting), he has earned many top awards and honors for outstanding teaching. Rogers is currently the Music Director at Pioneer High School in Woodland, Director of the Jazz Program at Solano Community College, adjunct Professor of Band at Woodland Community College and Artistic Director of the Yolo Community Band. He serves on the California Teachers Association State Council of Education.
The SRS Youth Orchestra has helped prepare musicians who have pursued a professional music career with numerous professional ensembles throughout California, including the Santa Rosa Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Oakland Symphony, Musica Angelica, Sacramento Symphony and Napa Valley Symphony.
SRS Youth Orchestra members are expected to have private instruction on their instrument and follow a regular practice routine.
Chamber music offers a unique music experience. Through chamber music, student musicians learn skills they do not learn in other settings. These skills can then be brought back to the larger orchestra or band context.
These skills include:
Rhythm– Because students are playing “one on a part”, they have to be very secure in their own part. Being able to play rhythms and maintain a steady pulse without benefit of a conductor is a skill that is crucial to the success of the chamber performance.
Intonation – Musicians have to rely on their own ears to find the center of the pitch to match the other players. This is especially tricky in ensembles of diverse instruments.
Listening – Playing in an ensemble without a conductor requires an enormous amount of listening. Players need to know the members’ parts almost as well as their own. Listening allows the musicians to match articulation, rhythm, interpretation and pitch.
We gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions from the following:
The Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra is sponsored by Nancy Doyle, MD, in memory of her father Edward S. Doyle.