MVYSO Tour Day #1 featuring special guest...

Let Nothing Ever Grieve Thee    On May 19, 2019, MVYSO’s Symphony Orchestra will be performing a piece entitled Motet. Arranged and orchestrated by Jerry Brubaker, Motet is inspired by Johannes Brahm’s piece, “Let Nothing Ever Grieve Thee,” and is dedicated to the victims and survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Along with September 11th and the Columbine Massacre, Hurricane Katrina was a significant disaster that shaped my formidable years. I was working toward my undergraduate degree in 2005, and

Meet Our Concerto Soloists! Every March, MVYSO features soloists from within the orchestra to perform with their peers. Saturday March 9, 2019, is no exception. MVYSO boasts two amazingly talented musicians who will be featured on stage alongside their peer orchestra. Ethan Rohrbach, piano Since he abandoned the violin when he was six, Ethan has vivaciously sustained a ten-year career in piano. He is thankful to God and his family for bestowing on him and helping him refine this precious

The Math of Music - Phaethon's Ride The Companion Post to Symphony's November 3, 2018 Performance of the Piece by Daniel Elder Phaethon (pronounced fay-then? pay-ton? Fy-a-then? Py-thon??? For real, it's pronounced Pie-ton - which is great, I'm all for a ton of pies.) On November 3, 2108, MVYSO's Symphony Orchestra will be performing Phaeton's Ride by Daniel Elder. This piece is a tone poem depicting the son god's son, Phaethon, losing control of the fiery chariot that controls the rising and

Here are the top 10 reasons NOT to go on MVYSO 2019 Summer Tour You like dreary weather and don't want to buy sunscreen  You've never been to Utah before and you don't do new things You'd have to leave your parents alone You might have to pack your pajamas in your tuba You might learn something from a new conductor in a workshop that causes your brain to hurt You have to spend time on a bus with people you like You already know that Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland was fashioned after Bryce

I know, a history lesson during summer break? Yep! Because your MVYSO Symphony conductor is a huge nerd and finds this fascinating. If you didn't know, I (Naomi) have been finishing my Master's degree in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. I'm very close to Gettysburg National Military Park - where a huge civil war battle took place. Growing up, my brother was obsessed with the movie, Gettysburg (it's rated R, don't watch it unless you're over 17 AND have your parents' permission!). So, over the

Today was Day #2 of the MVYSO summer tour! Complete with a wet day and performance at Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho!

This past Saturday, June 16, 2018, the MVYSO summer tour orchestra opened up the first Maple Valley Farmer's Market of the season! Every year MVYSO helps the jump start the market...and buy donuts as big as your face! Here are a few pictures from the performance:

How to Practice Over the Summer Ok, you've heard it from EVERY music teacher ever - practice your instrument over the summer! You know you should, so here are a few tips to help you out: Set a goal for the summer. Make it big or small, give yourself something to work toward over the summer months. (This is also a great tip for all the time - not just the summer!) Make it fun! Summer is a time to relax and not worry about homework or school. Make your practice time fun - learn that new pop song

We recently had students share their favorite MVYSO moment for the season.  For seniors, we let them share their favorite MVYSO moment ever from the years they spent playing in our program.  Time and time again, the response was a story from being on a tour.  By the way, this year's reminiscing wasn't special where this is concerned.  Tours are a perennial favorite in our favorite MVYSO sharing.  And, for the most part, the favorite moment had nothing to do with music!  Music just turned out to