Category: Uncategorized

Congratulations to Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Class of 2020! We are very proud of each and every one of you for your hard work, dedication, and positivity during this unusual season. It has been an honor getting to know each of you and we wish you well on your next adventures.

Since there is no 4th of July concert this year, we would be thrilled to have you submit a video performance of yourself playing a patriotic tune so that we can still celebrate online. Send video submissions to communications@byso.org by this Monday, June 29.

See our senior video tribute!

BYSO students!  Although our traditional opportunity to perform in front of thousands of people at the Bellevue Family 4^th is not feasible this year, the music must go on! Learn a patriotic tune, video record yourself, and submit to BYSO at communications@byso.org by Monday, June 29. Feel free to dress up. We will post your videos on Instagram and Facebook in celebration.

Patriotic tune ideas:

• America the Beautiful
• You’re a Grand Old Flag
• God Bless America
• My Country Tis of Thee
• The Land is Your Land
• Stars and Stripes Forever
• Star Spangled Banner
• Battle Hymn of the Republic
• When Jonny Comes Marching Home
• God Bless the USA
• Born in the USA
• Armed Forces Salute hymns: Semper Paratus, The U.S. Air Force, Anchors Aweigh, Marines’ Hymn, The Army Goes Rolling Along

Email communications@byso.org with any questions.

Dear BYSO Community,

The United States is now confronting the intolerance, racism, and violence against African Americans that has persisted through the years. This systemic racism has resulted in limited choices for Black Americans in every way. This includes access to the beauty of orchestral music.

At BYSO, we have long been committed to being a welcoming place for everyone, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or gender identification, as reflected in our organizational values. We believe we can do more, as an organization and as a community. We can actively learn how to eliminate racism and make a more inclusive organization; we will listen to diverse voices and grow and change. We will invest to create opportunity. This will not be a quick process, but it is a vital one.

Music has the power to heal, to bring joy and to bring us together. Let us share our music to make a better world.

BYSO Seniors – Please submit a short video or photo with a description describing a bit about yourself and what you look forward to. The submission deadline is this Friday, June 12. Please contact admin@byso.org for an upload link.

Congratulations on all your achievements this year. We look forward to celebrating you!

Check out some new posts from our conductor’s this month!

Learn about Florence B. Price, the first African American woman composer to earn national recognition. Or, in commemoration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday, join in on the discussion of each of Beethoven’s symphonies with the conductor of Nashville Symphony. Are polyrhythms difficult to understand? Learn How to Figure Out Any Polyrhythm.

Watch the inspiring online performance by BYSO flutists or a duet with Youth Symphony flutist Daniel Sun, who performs both parts!

Stay tuned for more from our conductors! To view posts anytime, from the BYSO homepage menu click “Ensembles” and choose an ensemble. Enjoy!

What would you like BYSO to offer this summer? Please help us plan potential summer programs by filling out our short survey.

Every year, we recognize outstanding students and volunteers that go above and beyond in our BYSO community. Today we celebrate recipients of BYSO’s Five-Year Membership Award, Volunteer of the Year Award, and Social Media Star of the Year Award. We are very proud of each and every one of you. Check out our video tribute!

Five-Year Membership Award

Anjana Begur, Ayata Bernhardt, Emma Chen, Daniel Choi, Seorim Choi, Lauren Crewdson, Kunchen Dai, Erin English, Marti Flickinger, Dmitry Flynn, Sara Hong, Connor Yuan-Long Hsu, Abigail Kearny, Rowan Kloss, Jessica Kusardi, Kevin Lu, David Lynn, Suprita Mantravadi, Melissa Mitchell, Jungho Park, Mitchell Pope, Prithvi Rangaswami, Asher Seet, Annie Shin, Anna Sullivan, Meg Takezawa, Sonia Tampi, Elisa Teh, Christian Trusedell, Andrew Wang, Brian Wei, Thomas Welch, Rowena Yin, Kolton Zeng, Sophie Zhang

Volunteer of the Year

Ruth Brewster

Social Media Star of the Year

Mallika Shah

Calling all BYSO seniors! In order to make this special time just a little more special, we would like to celebrate you in a little video compilation. Please submit a short video or photo with a description describing a bit about who you are, what you are looking forward to, what BYSO means to you, etc.

The submission deadline as been extended to Friday, June 12. Please contact admin@byso.org for an upload link.

Congratulations for all your achievements this year. We look forward to celebrating you!

We would like to hear from you! What would you like BYSO to offer you or your student this summer? What type of program do you wish was available for musicians at this time? Let us know your thoughts by filling out this very short survey. Thank you, we appreciate your input.

BYSO musicians are invited to participate in the ‘Greater Than’ Project (Brian Balmages, composer) – a virtual orchestra collaboration between 5^th through 12^th grade students from Bellevue School District, and our very own BYSO ensembles! Participation information is currently available on the conductor’s notes pages of Cadet String Orchestra, Sinfonia, and Youth Symphony.

What is a virtual orchestra? A virtual orchestra is an ensemble that is put together from the comfort and safety of home. Musicians record their parts using whatever technology is available and then send their parts to their teachers. The teachers then edit and arrange all the recordings and put them together to create an orchestra! Students can choose to submit either video or audio recordings.

The first set of recordings are due this Friday, May 29. Contact your conductor with any questions.