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Recognized nationally for their commitment to new music, the Etowah Youth Orchestras entertain large, enthusiastic crowds at concerts throughout the year. Four ensembles – the Etowah Youth Symphony Orchestra, EYS Honor Strings, Etowah Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and June Bugg Prelude Strings make up the EYO. The EYO is one of the most celebrated performing groups in Northeast Alabama.
The Etowah Youth Orchestras - A History
The Etowah Youth Orchestras
In October of 1990, the Gadsden Cultural Arts Foundation began to formulate a proposal to the three school systems in Etowah County to serve as administrator of a county-wide youth orchestra program. On November 15, 1990, Bobby Welch and Judge Jamie Sledge from the Center for Cultural Arts met with Etowah County's three school district superintendents to propose the idea of the Center to serve as the headquarters for the Etowah Youth Orchestras' operations. This was agreed upon and a conductor/manager job search began. In March 1991, Paul W. Pierce agreed to teach, conduct and manage the Etowah Youth Orchestras. Goals that evolved were to complement the established strings program in the Gadsden City Schools by offering beginning strings in selected Etowah County and Attalla City Schools; to establish an intermediate string orchestra and an advanced full orchestra; and to offer and promote private string instruction.
As the program matured, both the difficulty of repertoire and the number of concerts each season increased. Graduating into their fifth season, the Orchestras had begun to move toward the performance of works in the standard orchestral repertoire. In May of 1995, Paul Pierce announced his resignation as Music Director and Conductor of the Etowah Youth Orchestras to pursue Doctoral studies at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Connecticut. Michael R. Gagliardo was hired as the second Music Director and Conductor of the Etowah Youth Orchestras in July of 1995.
Under Gagliardo's leadership, the program has continued to rapidly expand and improve. Membership levels in the various ensembles have increased substantially, and the program continues to expand its performance calendar each season. Besides performances in Etowah County, the Orchestras have traveled to present concerts throughout the state of Alabama, including command performances in Montgomery in 1997 and 1999 for joint sessions of the Alabama State Legislature and the state's Constitutional Officers; a concert with the Jacksonville State University A Cappella Choir on the University's 1997 Kaleidoscope Arts Series in Oxford; a performance as a part of the Big Wills Arts Council's annual concert series in Fort Payne in 2000; and appearances at the Alabama Music Educators Association Conference in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2006. The Orchestras also traveled to perform at the American Honor Orchestra Conference at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg in 1997. The EYSO has also served as the pit orchestra for the Theater of Gadsden's 2002 production of "The Sound Of Music" and 2004 production of “1776,” presenting 10 performances of each show. The ensembles of the EYO have also performed on the Panoply Arts Festival and Concerts In The Park concert series for the Arts Council of Huntsville, Alabama.
Annual performance tours have taken the Etowah Youth Symphony Orchestra to Carnegie Hall in New York City; Chicago; the Celebration of the Arts Festival at Eastern Illinois University; St. Louis (including a 2000 performance in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's summer concert hall); the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City; New Orleans, where the EYSO received the "Best In Class" Award at the Gateway New Orleans Music Festival in 2001; Niceville, Florida, as the guests of the Northwest Florida Symphony Association, to present concerts, masterclasses, and clinics designed to assist the NFSA in establishing a youth orchestra program; the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC (in a performance which was broadcast live over the internet, and is archived at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage website); Philadelphia; New Haven; Boston; and Memphis.
The Etowah Symphonic Wind Ensemble's performance tours have included a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and five festivals sponsored by Gateway Music Festivals and Tours. In 1998, 2001, and 2003, the ESWE traveled to New Orleans, and in 1999 to Myrtle Beach, with Gateway. All four saw the ensemble receive "Best In Class" rankings for the festivals. In 2000, the ESWE traveled to Washington, DC, to participate in the National Music Festival celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the White House. The ESWE has also performed in St. Louis and Memphis.
A third performing ensemble, the Etowah Youth Symphony Honor Strings, performed in 2000 at the Arts Advocacy Day Conference in Washington, DC, and at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, as a part of the Museum's summer teacher's institute. In Washington, the Honor Strings were featured performers at the Congressional Arts Breakfast and the Arts Advocacy Day Senate Reception. In Cleveland, they served as a demonstration group for a presentation by EYO Music Director Mike Gagliardo, and also presented an afternoon performance at the Museum. The Honor Strings have also performed at the 2005 American String Teachers Association National Conference in Reno, Nevada, and in New Orleans at the Gateway Music Festival in 2003. The Honor Strings have also been frequent performers at the request of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman during his time in office, and performed twice for President Jimmy Carter during the 2002-03 season.
The EYO's 2006-07 Concert Season (the program's 16th season) will include a 4th Of July American Pops Concert in Gadsden for the Gadsden-Etowah Patriots Association; a Holiday Pops Concert featuring the music of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra; and an encore performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City in June of 2007. The EYO will present the World Premiere performances of works by Daniel Dorff, David Brown, and Mark Wood, and will debut a new ensemble, the Honda/EYO Electric String Ensemble, during the 2006-07 season. The season will also feature a joint performance with the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra.
The Orchestras' have become nationally recognized for their performances of the music of contemporary composers. Since 1992, the EYO has performed the World Premieres of works by Julia Scott Carey, James Woodward, Terry Williams, Miriam Lense, Sheridan Seyfried, Stella Sung, James Curnow, Philip Koplow, Paul Hanks, Alan Moss, Julius Williams, John Wilson, James Grant, Ralph Whitfield, Ryan Fraley, Mike Gagliardo, Kevin McMahon, Paul Pierce, Johnny Mathis Jr., and Max Chain.
The EYO's commitment to new music has been recognized by the American Symphony Orchestra League with the receipt of nine ASCAP Awards "for excellence in the programming and performance of contemporary orchestral music," including the receipt of the 2006 ASCAP Award for American Programming on Foreign Tours. In addition, in January of 1999 the EYO was selected to represent the State of Alabama in the Continental Harmony Project. The program, which was sponsored by the American Composers Forum and funded by the National Endowment For The Arts, was an initiative to create 50 new works of music for the millennium. The EYO received funding of $10,000 for this project. The work was a song cycle for soprano and orchestra, featuring the poetry and prose of residents of Etowah County, and was composed by Philip Koplow. It was premiered at the EYO's Fall Formal Concert in November of 2000.
The EYO's unique approach to programming and performance has led to concerts with Grammy-winning artist Bruce Hornsby and his band (April 2001); as the opening act for James Taylor at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater in Birmingham (August 2001); with blues harmonica legend Jerry "Boogie" McCain (November 1996 & June 1997); and many other unique performing opportunities, including three live "silent-movie" style performances of How The Grinch Stole Christmas (December 2000, 2001, & 2005). The EYO has also been a part of two documentaries, one specifically on the collaboration with "Boogie" McCain, filmed by Alabama Public Television, and has been the subject of two feature articles in Band & Orchestra Product News magazine.
With the growth of the Etowah Youth Orchestras program over the past nine seasons, it has become necessary to expand the staff of the Orchestras. In August of 1996, Claudia Shelton was selected to become the EYO's first Associate Conductor. She served in this capacity for four seasons. In July of 1998, Roland Lister was named Assistant Conductor of the EYO. Lister was appointed Associate Conductor of the EYO in August of 2000.
The activities of the Etowah Youth Orchestras take place five days a week at the Center for Cultural Arts in Symphony Hall, a new facility opened in May of 2002 specifically for the EYO. The Orchestras currently consist of four ensembles: the Etowah Youth Symphony Orchestra (a full orchestra with strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion); the Etowah Symphonic Wind Ensemble (an ensemble consisting of a concert band instrumentation); the EYS Honor Strings (a chamber ensemble made up of the top string players from the EYSO); and the June Moore Bugg Prelude Strings (an intermediate string orchestra). Currently, about 160 students are enrolled in these ensembles. The EYO also operates a summer strings camp that takes place during June each year. Gadsden State Community College, the City Of Gadsden, and the Gadsden Cultural Arts Foundation provide performance facilities.
In addition to these activities, after-school private lessons are available to all string, woodwind, brass, percussion, voice, guitar, and piano students. The Orchestras, in conjunction with the Gadsden Community School For The Arts, contract 16 private instructors who teach 15 weeks per semester. There are presently around 100 students enrolled in private lessons. The Youth Orchestras employ a Music Director & Conductor who manages the activities of the orchestras as a whole, and serves as the principal conductor for the EYSO, ESWE, and Honor Strings. The Associate Conductor of the EYO serves as the principal conductor of the Prelude Strings, and currently teaches twelve Beginning and Intermediate String Orchestra classes per week in local elementary and middle schools. There are currently approximately 125 students enrolled in these classes. The Associate Conductor also serves as the Director of the EYO Summer Strings Camp.
The Etowah Youth Orchestras operate as a sub-committee of the Foundation with guidance from the three participating school systems. The Executive Director of the Center for Cultural Arts serves as Executive Secretary for the EYO board. It should be noted that each superintendent felt so strongly about the project, that each has opted to personally serve on the board since its inception.
A member of the Foundation Board serves on the Foundation's Youth Orchestra committee. Funding for the Youth Orchestra comes primarily from a bingo tax that is placed on bingo games in Etowah County. Involvement of the Youth Orchestra on the Foundation Board has led to arrangements with the Center for Cultural Arts to allocate rehearsal and performance space for the Youth Orchestra within the building, and led to the creation of and funding for the Symphony Hall project. Administrative support services are also provided by the Center in the form of bookkeeping and facility scheduling and maintenance.
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