Youth Symphony commences at a closer location
August 6, 2008
By Laura Geggel
For the last year and a half, the Yorkers of North Bend have driven their 11-year-old daughter Sydney out of the Valley for violin lessons at Music Works Northwest.“The closest you can get lessons is in Bellevue,” said Wendy Yorker, Sydney’s mother.
The Yorkers are not alone. Students all over the Eastside are taking up stringed instruments and looking for a musical venue closer to home. The demand for a local youth symphony has impelled the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra to begin a new group in Issaquah.
It’s still out of the Valley, but it’s a shorter drive on I-90 West.
“We were thrilled,” Wendy said. “We immediately signed up (for auditions).”
Starting in September, the group, called Debut-East Orchestra, will meet every Saturday from 9-10:45 a.m. in the practice room at Hammond Ashley Violins, located at 320 Third Ave. N.E. in Issaquah.
“A number of things came together all in one smack,” said Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Executive Director Ruth Brewster. “The people in the Issaquah area, the southern part of Sammamish and Snoqualmie Ridge were thinking, ‘Gas prices are getting higher and my kids are little. I don’t want to drive them far.’”
While general manager at Hammond Ashley Violins, Bryce Van Parys offered the Issaquah store as a practice location. Brewster said she didn’t have to think twice about going.
The Debut-East Orchestra will complement the Debut-West Orchestra, which practices in Bellevue’s Sammamish High School Monday evenings from September through May. Issaquah cello teacher Valerie Doerrfeld will conduct both ensembles with a handful of music coaches in tow.
“I’ll be encouraging some of my youngest students to audition,” Doerrfeld said.
Children who are auditioning will be expected to have at least one year of playing experience, Doerrfeld said. Most students stay in the debut orchestra for two years, before matriculating to the next orchestra level.
To schedule an audition, set for Sept. 6, 8 and 9 at Lake Sammamish Foursquare Church and Sept. 10 at Hammond Ashley Violins, visit www.byso.org. There is a $25 audition fee.
If a student is accepted, a $25 discount for the annual $350 fee for each debut orchestra can be obtained if the total amount is submitted by Oct. 31.
Brewster said the Debut-East Orchestra could accommodate about 30 musicians age 13 and younger.
“It depends on how excited people get,” Brewster said. “If suddenly we have 80, we’ll make another clone.”
Sydney said she was nervous but excited to audition. She still has a month to decide which piece she will play for the judges. If she gets in, Sydney will join at least 16 other string players from North Bend, Snoqualmie, Preston and Duvall who also play for groups in the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra, which teaches 280 students total.
Van Parys said interest in music has shifted to the Eastside as more affluent families have settled in the area.
“People expect the infrastructure to be here,” Van Parys said. “When I grew up, you had to go to Seattle if you wanted to get a quality musical education. Now they are coming here.”
Reporter Laura Geggel can be reached at 392-6434 x221 or editor@isspress.com.
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Byso isn’t a very good thing, it waists my monday nights, the conductors are really harsh, and they expect you to act like an adult and they treat you like a child, i.e. no talking but “you’re not old enough to set up a stand by yourself”.