Local Youth Orchestra Accepting Applications
For the City Times
Young area musicians in grades six through twelve have the opportunity to audition for the Central Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra Program for its third season.
Formed through the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Music Department, Aber Suzuki Center and Continuing Education as well as with local music educators, the program has openings in both its Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia (string orchestra) groups. Registrations are due Monday, Aug. 15, after which there is a late registration fee.
Both groups rehearse and perform at the Noel Fine Arts Center on the UW-Stevens Point campus. Fall rehearsals begin Sunday, Sept. 11, and a concert concludes the semester on Sunday, Nov. 20. The spring semester runs Sunday, Jan. 15, through Sunday, April 9.
“Young musicians would have to travel to Madison or the Fox Valley to be involved in this level of study and performance,” said program founder Kurt Van Tiem. “Now they only have to travel to the top-notch facilities at the UW-Stevens Point Noel Fine Arts Center.”
Van Tiem directs the Symphony Orchestra, which performs standard orchestral literature at the advanced high school level. The group holds two concerts each year and will tour every three to four years. Van Tiem chairs the Music Department at P.J. Jacobs Junior High School in Stevens Point and has conducted the Wausau Symphony and at the University of Massachusetts.
The Philharmonia is directed by Stephan Wucherer and performs various levels of full orchestra literature from standard middle school to high school level. The group will hold two concerts each year and may perform for area schools. Wucherer is an orchestra director in the Howard-Suamico school district and conducts the Waupaca Area Orchestra.
For more information or registration, go to www.uwsp.edu/conted/
