School Spotlight: Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies

St. Paul, Minn. — Founded in 1972, GTCYS (pronounced "GIT-seez") serves more than 800 students ages 8 to 18 from around the Twin Cities metro and beyond with its eight academic-year orchestras and two summer programs. Believing that a comprehensive approach to music education will help students achieve their full potential, GTCYS programs are focused on teamwork, community engagement, and discipline, as well as on music learning. To increase access to music education, GTCYS is dedicated to breaking down barriers for students who otherwise could not afford to participate in orchestras by awarding nearly $40,000 in need-based scholarships every year.

GTCYS students benefit from access to world-class musicians through coaching from members of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra, as well as through working with guest conductors like Osmo Vänskä and Roberto Abbado. In 2011, GTCYS formed a strategic alliance with the SPCO to work together on their shared goals of building classical music audiences and serving the community (they even share office space in downtown Saint Paul). GTCYS has also collaborated with non-orchestral organizations like the Minnesota Chorale and, most recently, with the James Sewell Ballet on a performance of Camille Saint-Saëns's Carnival of the Animals. Last season, the Symphony Orchestra in particular worked with mentors from the University of Minnesota, and with the Parker Quartet. In their turn, Symphony students have mentored students in the Philharmonia Orchestras (the strings-only ensembles, often with the youngest students) as GTCYS recognizes the positive impact that high school mentors can have on beginning players.

Presenting 25 concerts to more than 10,000 people annually at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, Orchestra Hall, and Ted Mann Concert Hall, as well as free performances at homeless shelters, care centers, and schools, GTCYS is committed to bringing great music to as diverse an audience as possible. On March 22, 2015 at 4:00 p.m., the Symphony Orchestra will present a free family concert at as part of the Rock the Ordway Festival celebrating the renovation of the new concert hall.

The Symphony orchestra, under Artistic Director Mark Russell Smith (also the Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Minnesota), is comprised of 85 students and rehearses Monday nights for two-and-a-half hours at Good Samaritan Church in Edina, Minn. As the preeminent ensemble in GTCYS, the Symphony Orchestra has recently performed such rigorous professional-level works as Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, Copland's Appalachian Spring, and Kabalevsky's Overture to Colas Breugnon.

Last year, the Symphony orchestra performed a new commission — The Bridge by Minnesota composer David Evan Thomas — as the first part of a three-year commissioning project made possible by the Minnesota Commissioning Club. This season they will be premiering a new work by Mary Ellen Childs, in addition to performing the "Ode to Joy" movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Minnesota Chorale on April 19, 2015 at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi.

Throughout its history, GTCYS has toured domestically and internationally. The Symphony revitalized that tradition after a several year hiatus with a 10-day tour in the Andalusian region of Spain last summer. As a testament to its talent and hard work, it was invited to perform at the Granada International Festival of Music and Dance, in addition to performances in Seville and Antequera. Go here to read Julie Amacher's feature from June with interviews from Symphony students and conductor Mark Russell Smith.

Symphony will be performing on December 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Ted Mann. The concert will feature Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World". Tickets are available by calling the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra box office at 651-291-1144 or by visiting the SPCO website. You can see the full line-up of 2014-15 GTCYS concert offerings by clicking here.

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