Premiere Orchestra

  • Our 2025 Winter Concert Series is just around the corner! Scroll down for details.
  • Winter Quarter music was sent out via the newsletter on January 3rd. The newsletter was sent via email to the primary email address we have on file for each enrolled student. To download music, click the following link and enter the password found in that newsletter: Winter Quarter 2025 Music.
  • Click here for Conductor’s Messages
  • Scroll down for Spring Quarter dates!

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.

WINTER QUARTER 2025 DETAILS

Rehearsals Winter Quarter Dates
Mondays from 6:30 – 8:30 pm 1/6, 1/13, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 2/24, 3/3, 3/10
There is no rehearsal on 1/20 and 2/17. 
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
Odle Middle School Saturday, January 25 (12:30 pm – 3:30 pm)
502 143rd Ave NE
Bellevue, WA 98007
Concert  Time & Date
Meydenbauer Theater Saturday, March 15 at 3:00 pm
11100 NE 6th St Call time is 1:15 pm. See details below
Bellevue, WA 98004 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 | Saturday, March 15 @ 3:00 pm

CALL TIME | 1:15 PM
All musicians should arrive promptly 1:15 pm.

LOCATION
Meydenbauer Center Theater: 11100 NE 6th St, Bellevue, WA 98004

DROP OFF
Musicians can be dropped off via the Meydenbauer parking garage. Please see Meydenbauer’s website for prices.

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.

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! 

CONCERT TICKETS
Tickets are now available for purchase for families of enrolled BYSO students, limited to 2 tickets per enrolled student per concert. If available, additional tickets will be opened to the public on February 27.

SPRING QUARTER 2025

Rehearsals will be at Overlake Christian Church on Mondays from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm on the following dates: 3/24, 3/31, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28, 5/5, and 5/12. There is no rehearsal on April 7 for Spring Break.
Concert dates are posted on our website here: This Season’s Concerts.

Full Spring Quarter details will be posted on this page as March 24 gets closer. Until then, email admin@byso.org with any questions.

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

Spring Quarter 2025

Fantastic work last quarter and great concert performance! Ms. Ogden and I are proud of all the work you put into the music last quarter and the musical performance that you displayed on Saturday!

NO REHEARSAL MARCH 17

We will begin our Spring quarter on Monday, March 24. We will be performing 2 pieces on this concert.

  • 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.
  • 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:
      • Alborada
      • Variazioni
      • Alborada
      • Scena e Canto Gitano
      • Fandango Asturiano
  • 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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