Music Festival

The Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra organization will hold its second annual Celebration of Music Education Festival on May 1, 2010.  The 2009 event was a resounding success and the WCYO looks forward to hosting groups from the Fairfield and Westchester county areas again this season.  For general information on the Festival, see “Purpose of the Festival” below.

Purpose of the Festival

The primary goal of the festival is to bring together orchestras and bands from Fairfield and Westchester counties in a celebration of your achievements. Regionally, these areas are the ones that provide so many excellent students to the WCYO. We recognize that public school education plays a critical role in the success of any youth orchestra, and our conductors and Board of Directors agree that your hard work and inspiration are vital to our success. The Festival is a great opportunity to hear neighboring schools perform , get to know one another, and make some connections in our region.

The second main goal of the festival is to provide an educational experience for your students in a friendly, non-competitive environment. Performances will be adjudicated for rating only by Petko Dimitrov, conductor of the Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra and Suzanne Corey-Sahlin, conductor of the Western Connecticut Junior Orchestra. Immediately following the performance, your group will participate in a clinic with an adjudicator. To read more about these remarkable conductors, please visit their biographies at our website at www.wctyo.org/leadership.html.

The third goal of the festival is to give some of your most accomplished musicians the opportunity to play with the WCYO orchestra. The WCYO is inviting the first stand of each section of your group to perform the day's finale with the WCYO. The piece will be made available on our website at a later time and you will be notified of its availability for distribution to your students. These players will rehearse with the WCYO just prior to the final performance.

For more information, please download the following forms: