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Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra


For advanced players 12 yrs - 23 yrs, with exceptions for exceptional players.
Thursdays 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM 
September - May 

The Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra (SRSYO) comprises advanced students, typically 12-23 years of age, who are studying privately and have had previous orchestral training. Many members started in the Debut Youth Orchestra and earned their position in the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra through growth, experience and skill. The Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra is among the oldest orchestras of its kind in California and has performed in Carnegie Hall and Davies Symphony Hall. The orchestra has toured in Germany, the Czech Republic, China, Austria, Hungary and Spain. Members typically have more performing opportunities than students in the Debut and Aspirante Youth Orchestras and must be committed to a regular routine of rehearsals, private lessons, and at-home practice. Music performed is from the standard orchestral repertoire.

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, previously Conductor of the Aspirante Youth Orchestra since 2011. 

The SRSYO has helped prepare musicians who have pursued a professional music career with numerous professional ensembles throughout California and beyond, 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. 

 


Alumni Concert & Reception - June 8, 2024


Alumni, teachers, friends and family of SRSYO members past and present are invited to the celebration!

Join us on Saturday, June 8, 2024 at 3:00 PM at Jackson Theater, Sonoma Country Day School

Reception to follow.

Tickets: Pay what you can.
 

Alumni: Sign up to Play with us!



 





 

Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra Chamber Players


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.

IntonationMusicians 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.




 

Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition

The Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition is open to Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra members.

 
 

 

We gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions from the following:

 

Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra sponsored by Nancy Doyle, MD, in memory of her father Edward S. Doyle

 

Photos by Susan and Neil Silverman Photography
Banner photo by Jurgita Mazeika

Contact Us

Administrative Office:
50 Santa Rosa Ave
Suite 410
Santa Rosa CA 95404
Phone:  (707) 546-7097

Patron Services | Box Office:
Phone: (707) 546-8742
E-mail: tickets@srsymphony.org

 

Request A Season Brochure

tickets@srsymphony.org