Premiere Orchestra

Rehearsals will be held on Monday evenings from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Musicians are expected to arrive and be prepared to rehearse 15 minutes prior to start time.

SPRING QUARTER 2025 DETAILS

Rehearsals Spring Quarter Dates
Mondays from 6:30 – 8:30 pm 3/24, 3/31, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28, 5/5, and 5/12
There is no rehearsal on April 7 (Spring Break).
Rehearsal Location Drop Off/ Pick Up
Overlake Christian Church Plan on prompt drop off and pick up to avoid
9900 Willows Rd NE congestion.
Redmond, WA 98052
Retreat  Time & Date
Retreats take place in TBD
Fall and Winter quarters only.
Concert  Time & Date
Meydenbauer Theater Sunday, May 18 at 7:00 pm
11100 NE 6th St Call time: 5:00 pm
Bellevue, WA 98004 See below for more details.

Student Checklist

  • Bring a music stand
  • Bring a pencil
  • 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 THE CONCERT

Students absent from rehearsal on the last Monday rehearsal before the concert are required to send Mr. Drassal a link to an unlisted YouTube video demonstrating their performance of their part. Mr. Drassal will email them measure numbers and tempo markings. This video is due no later than Thursday at 3pm. Students will receive the results of this music test by end of day Thursday.
For more details about the absence policy, please see the BYSO Student Handbook.

CONCERT DETAILS | Sunday, May 18 @ 7:00 pm

CALL TIME | 5:00 PM
All musicians should arrive promptly 5:00 pm.

DROP OFF & PARKING
Musicians can be dropped off via the garage below the Meydenbauer Center. Parking cannot be reserved ahead of time. Rates are $7.00 for 1 hour, $11.00 for 1-3 hours, and $13 for 3-5 hours. For more details, click HERE to view parking information on the Meydenbauer website.

CONCERT ATTIRE
Be sure to check your ensemble’s concert attire requirements. Students must arrive wearing their concert clothing. They will not have a place to change later.

REQUIRED MATERIALS
Reminder to bring your instrument, music, a pencil, and any instrument accessories (i.e. reeds, resin, etc.). You do not need to bring a music stand.

STAY THE WHOLE TIME
It is expected that all students playing in the concert stay for the entire concert. Please do not request that BYSO staff retrieve your student from backstage so that you can leave early.

VOLUNTEERS – WE NEED YOU!
Volunteers will be a vital part of a successful day at Meydenbauer for all of our students. We need volunteers to help the check in process and supporting ensembles during their dress rehearsals. Volunteers have early access to reserve their seats in the hall. Click here to sign up now! 

MEYDENBAUER CONCERT TICKETS
Families of enrolled BYSO students may find the concert ticket link in the weekly newsletter. Community members will be able to purchase tickets on May 1. Reminder: BYSO musicians performing in the concert do not need their own ticket.

About

Premiere Orchestra is an intermediate orchestra in the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra organization. The typical Premiere Orchestra student has had some private instruction and school ensemble experience and is working to improve technical proficiency.

Premiere Orchestra introduces young musicians to full orchestral instrumentation (strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion) with repertoire that appropriately challenges their experience level. Past works performed include Brahms’s Hungarian Dances 5 & 6, Vaughan Williams’s Rhosymedre, and Mendelssohn’s Sinfonia No. 7 in D minor.

Recent Premiere Orchestra Performance

Conductor: David Drassal

David Drassal is a Tri-Cities area native, where he attended Southridge High School, playing trumpet in the bands and violin in the orchestra. He began Suzuki violin lessons at age 7 with Melvina Romanelli in Richland, WA and went on to receive a B.M. and M.A. in Music Education from Central Washington University. Mr. Drassal started with BYSO in 2007 as a violin coach for Premiere and has been the director for the Premiere Orchestra since 2013. Mr. Drassal also teaches orchestra at Tyee Middle School in Bellevue. Learn more.

Contact David Drassal at premiere@byso.org

Messages from the Conductor

Great job at your spring concert! Thank you for a fantastic performance season!

We hope you have a great summer break! We are looking forward to seeing you at your next auditions and next season!

Spring Quarter 2025

April 30 Update

You are each doing great work learning your parts and coming to rehearsal prepared. Please add in some metronome practice to your practice routine so you start getting used to how all of the rhythms feel when you play them at the concert speed.

In general- the parts of the music that are technically easier to play rush ahead while the more challenging technical passages drag. Getting used to playing with a metronome at a set speed will help overcome this.

  • Centennial Overture by William Hofeldt
    • Winner of the 1987 National School Orchestra Association composition contest. William Hofeldt is an American composer born and raised in Chicago, IL. He taught middle school orchestra for 15 years in Wisconsin. He currently lives in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and his music is performed by school and youth orchestra ensembles around the country.
    • This piece features each of the sections of our orchestra for extended melodic phrases, each with its own flavor and character.
    • Centennial Overture Recording
  • Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms, Arranged by Roy Phillippe
  • Capriccio Espagnol by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Arranged by Richard Meyer
    • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer who lived from 1844 to 1908. His most well-known and performed works are Scheherazade, Russian Easter Festival Overture, and this one- Capriccio Espagnol.
    • Capriccio Espagnol is a five-movement work based on Spanish folk melodies. It was premiered in 1887 and has been immensely popular since.
    • The five movements of the original are:
  • TEMPO MARKINGS
    • Centennial Overture
      • Beginning- quarter note = 112
      • 44- Piu mosso- quarter note = 116
      • 66- Andante- quarter note = 80
      • 92- Allegro Vivace- quarter note = 120
    • Capriccio Espagnol
      • Beginning- quarter note = 108
      • 57- Piu mosso- quarter note = 144

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