Fall Quarter music will be posted on our website in PDF format by mid-September. All enrolled students will receive instructions via email on how to access and print these PDFs in September. In the meantime, email admin@byso.org with any questions.
Rehearsals will be held on Monday evenings from 6:15 – 8:30 pm. Musicians are expected to arrive and be prepared to rehearse 15 minutes prior to start time.
Print your sheet music prior to first rehearsal (using link at top of this page) and bring with you to rehearsal
Arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of rehearsal to ensure you are in your chair and ready to play at the start of rehearsal
Have fun!
ATTENDANCE POLICY FOR LAST REHEARSAL BEFORE CONCERT
In order to participate in the concert, Philharmonia students who miss the final Monday night rehearsal before a concert will be required to submit a video recording of them performing the excerpts used for seating auditions posted in the Conductor’s Messages on the Philharmonia page (below). For those excerpts, students will play their assigned part for the concert (Clarinet 2 plays that part, Trombone 2 plays that part, Violin 2 plays that part, etc.). Students can send a link to accessible platforms like YouTube, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. Please make sure you have adjusted the sharing settings appropriately and make sure you are clearly visible in the video recording. Students must submit this no later than 11:59 PM Wednesday. Mr. Kempisty will review the submission and notify the student and parent of the result by end of day on Thursday.
About
Philharmonia is an advanced orchestra in the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra organization. The typical Philharmonia student has several years of private instruction, substantial ensemble experience, and a high level of proficiency on their instrument.
Philharmonia prepares advanced musicians for potential entry into Youth Symphony through the study and performance of challenging full orchestra repertoire. Past performances have included works by contemporary composers such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Soon Hee Newbold, and John Williams, as well as movements from professional-level symphonies and suites, including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, Holst’s The Planets, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.
Recent Philharmonia Performances
Conductor: Joseph Kempisty
Joseph Kempisty holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The Ohio State University and a Master of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies degree from the University of Washington. He has taught elementary, middle, and high school orchestras in the Midwest as well as in the Bellevue School District, where he was also a school administrator for fourteen years. Learn more.
Our Fall Quarter starts on Monday, September 28th, and our Fall Retreat is Saturday, October 3 from 9am to 12pm (see location details for rehearsals and retreat at the top of this page).
One important detail about our Fall Retreat (10/3): This is where we will have Seating Auditions for each section. If you have a conflict or are unable to attend our Fall Retreat, you will not be able to do your audition – and that is ok. You will be seated at the end of your section for this Fall Concert, but we have seating auditions at the start of each rehearsal cycle.
The Winter Concert seating auditions will take place at our Winter Retreat on Saturday, January 9 (also in the morning).
Our Spring Concert seating auditions will take place during one of our regular Monday night rehearsals likely on Monday, March 29 (this will be confirmed later).
I will post the seating audition spots for all instruments on this page the week of our first rehearsal. Everyone will prepare the first part of their instrument (if more than one). Information will be shared via email from our BYSO office with a link to your parts the week before our first rehearsal.
For those instruments that have multiple parts (Woodwinds, most Brass, Violin): For our first rehearsal, there are no part assignments. We will alternate parts throughout that rehearsal, so be sure to print all your parts once they are posted (sometimes you will play 1st part, sometimes 2nd part, etc.). Part assignments will be made after our 10/3 Fall Retreat based on the seating auditions.
One request: Each season, I like to include pieces that are suggested by our Philharmonia musicians. If you have a piece and/or composer in mind that you would like me to consider, please email that to me at philharmonia@byso.org
Looking forward to a great season!
Mr. Kempisty, Philharmonia Conductor
As an example for our new Philharmonia musicians and families, below are pieces we performed last season which includes four requested by our musicians. Philharmonia typically performs the professional-level, original work as written by the composer.
Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide
Gustav Holst’s The Planets (Mars and Jupiter)
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton (Highlights from the musical, arranged by Jerry Brubaker)
Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (Selections from Ravel’s version)
Soon Hee Newbold’s The Iliad
Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, Finale (Fourth Movement)
