Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras
The Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (BYSO) is a youth orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts under the artistic leadership of Music Director Federico Cortese. Since 1958, BYSO has served thousands of young musicians from throughout New England with a three full symphonic orchestras, a string training orchestra, a preparatory wind ensemble, four chamber orchestras, a chamber music program, and a nationally recognized string training program for underrepresented youth from inner-city communities.
BYSO’s mission is to "encourage artistic excellence in a nurturing environment by providing the highest quality orchestral training and performance opportunities to qualified musicians, grades K-12, while making its programs accessible to underrepresented youth through financial aid and outreach."
Each year, BYSO auditions around 700 elementary and secondary students, accepting around half of them. BYSO prides itself on creating a community for young musicians, their families and the people that support their passion for music.
BYSO offers over 15 performances in some of Boston's finest venues including Boston Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory, Sanders Theatre at Harvard University and Tsai Performance Center at Boston University. The orchestras and chamber ensembles rehearse every Sunday from September through June at Boston University College of Fine Arts, where BYSO has been in residence since it was established in 1958. The College of Fine Arts is a major sponsor of BYSO.
BYSO receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the premier federal arts funding agency in the United States, as well as numerous private and public funding sources. In 2007, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the state’s agency for arts, humanities and sciences, announced continued support for the BYSO; it ranked the BYSO first among all orchestras in the state for its quality, outreach programs, and fiscal and administrative management.
BYSO has the largest operating budget (in 2010, $2,372,974 ) of any youth orchestra in the United States, nearly double that of most youth orchestras.
Eduardo Tobon, Managing Director of the Cards Division within Sovereign Bank/Santander Bank, is the current President of BYSO Board of Directors.
Read more about Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras: History
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