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 pm – 8:45 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 THE CONCERT
Students who miss the final Monday night rehearsal before a concert (regardless of the first or second absence) may be required to submit a video recording of the seating audition excerpts (posted on the Youth page of the BYSO website) in order to be deemed eligible to participate in the concert.
Mr. Salvaggio will communicate whether a video recording is required or not to the student on Tuesday. If a test is required, the student must submit it no later than 11:59 PM Thursday evening. Mr. Salvaggio will review the submissions Friday morning and notify the student and parents of the results.
Failure to submit a video may result in the student being disqualified from playing in the concert.
Videos may be sent to Mr. Salvaggio by uploading to Youtube, Google Drive, or Dropbox. Please make sure you have adjusted the sharing settings appropriately, so the video is accessible.
Youth Symphony is the most advanced ensemble in the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra organization. The typical student in Youth Symphony has had significant private instruction as well as school and extra-curricular ensemble experience. Youth Symphony members must have a high degree of technical proficiency and must enjoy challenge.
Youth Symphony provides a chance for advanced students to tackle the works of the great masters as well as new music composed especially for them. Past works performed include Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique.
Recent Performance of Youth Symphony
Conductor: Matthew Salvaggio
Conductor Matthew Salvaggio is a dynamic artist dedicated to exploring and promoting new music, reimagining diverse orchestral performance experiences, and creating equitable access to music education.
He founded Cleveland Repertory Orchestra in 2021 to explore thebreadth of the orchestral repertoire, with an emphasis on new music and music by historically excluded voices. Additionally, the 2023/24 season marks his first season as Music Director and Conductor of the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra, where he conducts the top-tier Youth Orchestra and manages a team of eight conductors responsible for leading the other BYSO ensembles.
Committed to increasing access to music education, in 2022 Matt announced an initiative to expand the Erie Junior Philharmonic’s Prelude program for beginning students to include opportunities for beginning woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments. In 2019, he established the Tom Baker Young Artists Competition with the Euclid Symphony Orchestra. The annual competition, which has attracted students from throughout the Midwest, awards the winner a concerto performance opportunity with the ESO and a cash prize.
An advocate for new music, Matt has commissioned works for band and orchestra with his ensembles, and his artistic collaborations include members of the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Erie Philharmonic, and more.
Upon the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, Matt completed several successful Music Directorships, including six seasons with the Euclid Symphony Orchestra, six seasons with the University Heights Symphonic Band, and two seasons with the Erie Junior Philharmonic. He has previously served on the faculty at Mercyhurst University, Hiram College, and Lakeland Community College. Learn more.
Winter Quarter (Sunday, March 14, 2027, 6:30 PM at Meydenbauer Center)
TBD: Concerto Competition winner
Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 2 “The Four Temperaments”
Spring Quarter (Monday, May 17, 2027, 7:00 PM at Meydenbauer Center)
Steven Bryant: TBA – new piece commissioned in memory of Christine Gero
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 1
Welcome to Fall Quarter!
I’m so excited to welcome you to Youth Symphony! This season is all about Exploring Possibility.
This season’s Youth Symphony is larger and collectively more talented than at any point in my last four seasons as Music Director. That means this season is an opportunity for us to stretch what we’re all capable of. It will require you to be willing to take risks in rehearsal and to be willing to push your musical abilities.
Exploring possibility together means that by the time we get to the first rehearsal of each quarter, we’ve already spent time with our parts and listened to recordings, and it means we spend time outside of rehearsal each week to bring a clearer, more refined version of our musical ideas into our rehearsal space.
Preparation is what makes the risk-taking possible.
Can’t wait to see you all at our first rehearsal on September 28!!
Mr. Salvaggio
Seating auditions will take place at our retreats (October 3 in fall, January 9 in winter) and the second rehearsal of spring quarter (March 30). There will be no makeups for students who are absent.
Fall 2026 Seating Auditions
Seating auditions will take place during the first two hours of our retreat on Saturday, October 3. Seating audition spots for fall quarter will be posted in early September.
