Youth orchestra to regale audience with symphonic sensations
One hundred and three students in The Sussex County Youth Orchestra will perform in a winter concert this Sunday, Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. at Kittatinny Regional High School. The concert is free and open to the public.
The orchestra's winter concert season started on Oct. 11 with the Youth Orchestra rehearsing twice a week and the two string orchestras rehearsing once a week. The concert will include a Ukrainian folk song, the Beatle song "OB-LA-DI-OB-LA DA" the Overture to the "Magic Flute" and "A Whole New World" from the musical Aladdin. In addition, two seniors will perform solos on their major instruments: Emma Kline, a Newton high school senior, will play a favorite violin piece by Wieniawski entitled "Polonaise Brilliante," and Katie Rakus, a home schooled senior, will play "Concerto for Oboe" by Haydn. Both solos will be performed with full orchestral accompaniment.
Kline has been playing with the orchestra for 11 years. She said that performing Wieniawski's "Polonaise No. 1 in D Major" will "definitely be my hardest piece." The senior at Newton High School is looking forward to the concert and enjoys the orchestra.
The formation
Byram's Dawn Tedesco started The Sussex County Youth Orchestras (SCYO) in 1987 as a means of enriching the lives of young musicians by affording them the opportunity to develop their musical talents. This includes allowing them to experience a wide range of performance platforms where they can share their talents with the community.
Under Tedesco's direction, the orchestra has not only enriched the lives of its many musicians, but has been integral in launching successful careers in music and music education. It has also commissioned three major orchestral works which have become part of the national educational orchestral repertoire.
Well known for her master-ship of the strings and passion for teaching, Tedesco was awarded the 2007 Presidential Award from the Sussex County Arts and Heritage Council which recognized her contributions to promoting the Arts in Sussex County.
John Sepe is the orchestra's Preparatory Conductor and Composer-in-Residence, Gerald Tesesco is the Youth Orchestra Conductor, Alan Tesesco is the Rocking Strings Conductor, and Joan Tracey is the Accompanist.
A growing group
The SCYO has performed in excess of 50 free concerts and has grown to more than 80 members ranging in age from 12 to 28 for the Youth Orchestra. These musicians, who come from Sussex, Morris, Passaic, Essex and Warren counties as well as nearby Pennsylvania and New York, represent more than 30 schools and are taught by more than 40 private teachers.
"One of the biggest challenges, especially as the students get older, is the many conflicts that arise with sports, school plays and school activities that require the students to attend," Dawn Tesesco said.
More than 38 schools are represented in the SCYO program and getting 100 percent attendance at rehearsals is very difficult.
"The parents and students are committed to working hard to perform an exciting concert for the community," Tedesco added.
The Sussex County Youth Orchestra is made up of mostly high school students and includes wind players and percussionists that have been selected to perform with the All Sussex County Honors Band or Region I Symphonic Band.
Tedesco said that preparing all three orchestras to perform their winter concert has meant diligent selection of music which will please the audience and challenge and excite the young musicians.
"Also, the goal is to educate the students to a wide variety of music from classical to pop, to country to show tunes," Tedesco said.
For further information about the concert, visit www.scyo.org. Admission is free though donations to the program are accepted.