Members of the Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra (OSYO) will soon have their original compositions workshopped and performed on a Vernon stage.
The Okanagan Symphony Orchestra (OSO) will present its 2022 OSYO Composer Reading Session at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre on April 2 from 2:30 to 5 p.m.
Composition is a key component of the Okanagan’s premier orchestral training program for youth, with student compositions regularly performed at OSYO concerts.
At the reading session, compositions by seven OSYO students will be performed and workshopped by the professional orchestra. It’s the only program in the province that offers high-school-aged students the chance to have their compositions professionally performed on stage.
“The OSO runs a composition training program for OSYO students where they get to hear their pieces played by our professional musicians. This program is unique in B.C.,” said OSO music director Rosemary Thomson. “I am in awe of the level of sophistication and expression that our students have created, and I cannot wait to bring their music to life in our Composition Reading session!”
This year, OSYO students received bi-weekly Zoom lessons from B.C. composer Jennifer Butler. The goal of the composition program was for students to create an original composition to be premiered at the upcoming reading session.
Butler is a composer, teacher and flutist living in Vancouver. Her experience includes teaching at the Vancouver Academy of Music and acting as a teaching artist for the Vancouver Opera and a composer mentor for the Turning Point ensemble. She is currently chair for the advisory for the B.C. region of the Canadian Music Centre.
The composer reading session is free and open to the public, with donations welcomed at the door.
The OSYO was founded as the Youth Symphony of the Okanagan in 1988 by celebrated composer Imant Raminsh. It is now led by co-conductors Rosemary Thomson and Dennis Colpitts under the OSO umbrella.
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