Free youth orchestra concert this Sunday in Urbana

Members of the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra performed at Smith Recital Hall in Urbana during their 2022 Winter Concert. The orchestra will perform again this Sunday.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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URBANA - The East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra will perform its annual Winter Concert this Sunday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. at Smith Music Hall on the University of Illinois campus.

Orchestra members are the top classical student instrumentalists in the area. The musicians, who hail from Champaign, Urbana, Mahomet, Monticello, and Danville, go through a rigorous audition process for their chairs.

Sunday's program features the overture to Giuseppe Verdi's opera Nabucco, a medley from the musical Les Misérables, Norwegian Dances by Edvard Grieg, Andante Festivo by Jean Sibelius, and the first movement of Antonín Dvořák's Eighth Symphony.

The CUYO focuses on providing young musicians in the Champaign-Urbana area with opportunities to perform in an orchestral setting. It serves middle school and high school students, offering them a chance to enhance their musical skills, work with experienced conductors, and perform a diverse repertoire of classical and contemporary works.

"This is challenging music for the students, and they’ve worked hard since mid-September to bring it to performance level," Kevin Kelly, music director for the youth orchestra, said. "You will be impressed and entertained!"

Admission to the event is free and begins promptly at 7 p.m. Smith Music Hall is located on the University of Illinois campus at 805 S. Mathews Ave.

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Youth Orchestra to perform on Sunday

Members of the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra performed at Smith Recital Hall in Urbana during their Winter Concert 2022. The 2024 concert will be performed this Sunday at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

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URBANA - More than three dozen of the best orchestra students in Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding area will perform at the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra Winter Concert at Smith Music Hall in Urbana.

"It’s going to be cold on Sunday. What better antidote than an evening of heartwarming music?" asks music director Kevin Kelly. "The talented students of the orchestra have been working hard since mid-September on a challenging and worthy program."

The program starts at 7 p.m. and will include Richard Wagner’s Prelude to the opera Die Meistersinger, Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart, and Sibelius’s Karelia Suite. The orchestra will also perform Johann Strauss Jr.’s Emperor Waltz, and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor.

The concert free to the public. Those who wish to make a much appreciated donation can do so through The Conservatory of Central Illinois.

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Classical musicians give winter concert

Members of the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra performed at Smith Recital Hall in Urbana on Sunday. The orchestra, made up of 49 students from the local area, including Champaign, Urbana, Mahomet, Monticello, and Danville, delighted parents and guests pieces from Verdi, Malcolm Arnold, and Dvorak at the music building on the University of Illinois campus. Here, the cello section plays during the Hungarian Dance No.5 in G Minor by Johannes Brahms conducted by Kevin Kelly at the Winter Concert 2022.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

ECIYO to host spring concert on Sunday

Urbana -- The East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra will present this year's spring concert at Monticello High School's auditorium this Sunday.

The May 15 concert will be free and starts at 7:00 pm.

"The kids have worked long and hard during a challenging time, and the results will be very much worth hearing," said Kevin Kelly, Music Director for the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra. "If you have the evening free, I hope you’ll consider attending."

The young musicians who will perform on Sunday are the top high school classical instrumentalists in the area. The student-musician group, who audition individually for their chair, consist of 49 students from Champaign, Urbana, Mahomet, Monticello, and Danville.

In addition to classical pieces from Bach, Tchaikovsky, and Mozart, concert-goers will hear new work by Aaron Rosenstein, a member of the orchestra.

"The kids have worked long and hard during a challenging time, and the results will be very much worth hearing," Kelly added.

Youth orchestra to perform on campus this Sunday

The East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra will perform a concert at Smith Recital Hall in Urbana this Sunday, January 16, at 7pm.

The orchestra is made up of 49 students from the local area including Champaign, Urbana, Mahomet, Monticello, and Danville. Each student must audition for a spot in the program run by The Conservatory of Central Illinois. The young musicians are among the top high school classical instrumentalists in the area.

"We’ve been preparing since mid-September, with weekly rehearsals on Sunday afternoons at the Krannert Center," said Kevin Kelly, Conductor and Program Director. "The orchestra plays professional-level music from the standard orchestral repertoire, which presents expressive and technical challenges and tremendous learning opportunities for talented, highly motivated student musicians."

The program includes Giuseppe Verdi Overture to The Force of Destiny, Camille Saint-Saëns Danse Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah, and Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G Minor and No. 6 in D Major.

"This particular program has two selections drawn from operas—by Verdi and Saint-Saëns—two influenced by national styles of particular countries—the Irish dances of Arnold and the Hungarian dances of Brahms—and a movement from a celebrated symphony by Dvořák, who was a protege of Brahms," Kelly said. "Some of the tunes will be quite familiar to classical music fans, but all of it can easily be enjoyed by even the novice listener."

The concert is free to the general public and proof of vaccination or negative COVID test is required for admission.

The musicians for Sunday's program include:

Violin: Noel Chi, co-concertmaster, Jenna Shin, co-concertmaster, Elijah Song, co-concertmaster, Sierra Freund, assistant concertmaster, Emily Duong, Sarah Guo, Andrew Kim, Maggie Li, Wesley Lu, Swarup Majumder, Elan Pan, Shreyas Singh, Bruce Tang, Maya Viswanathan, Max Wang, Renee Wang, Emily Wilson, James Yan, and Dan Yang.

Viola: Sarah Kim, principal and Advait Rajmane.

Cello: Yelim Kim, principal, Ellie Kim, Sarah Su, Jeana To, Firmiana Wang, and Jason Yan.

Bass: Kalah Weber, principal and April Vanichtheeranont.

Flute: Grace To, principal, Hewitt Friedman, Elizabeth Su, and Jonas VisGirda.

Piccolo: Jonas VisGirda.

Oboe: William Ding, principal, and Ioelle Lee.

Clarinet: Benjamin Chang, co-principal, Stefania Dzhaman, co-principal, and Teo Percoco.

Bassoon: Christian Deck.

Horn: Owen Robinson, principal, and Mason Miao.

Trumpet: Gabe Difanis, co-principal, and Aaron Rosenstein, co-principal.

Trombone: Roman Di Girolamo, principal and Jack Minor, and Nick Wurl (guest).

Tuba: Owen Ericson.

Piano: D. J. Wang.

Timpani: Elianna Lee.

Percussion: Jason Kim

Youth orchestra concert at Smith Music Hall

URBANA - The East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra will perform their annual Winter Concert at Smith Memorial Hall in Urbana tomorrow. The Sunday evening concert features classical pieces from both American and Russian composers.

"These talented students have worked long and hard to prepare this wonderful music, and we would all be gratified to see you in the audience," said Kevin Kelly, Music Director for youth orchestra.

The program includes two popular Russian pieces from Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky, as well as works from American composers Aaron Coplan, Irving Fine, Virgil Thomson, and John Philip Sousa.

Admission to the event is free to the public and begins promptly at 7 p.m. Smith Memorial Hall is located on the University of Illinois campus at 805 S. Mathews Avenue.