Gala Concerts

April 26 at 2:00 p.m. at Popejoy Hall

Albuquerque Prelude String Orcestra
Albuquerque Junior String Orchestra
Albuquerque Junior Orchestra
Albuquerque Junior Symphony

April 26 at 6:00 p.m. at Popejoy Hall

Albuquerque Youth Orchestra
Albuquerque Youth Symphony

Admission to both of the concerts is free, but the AYS asks audience members to bring a non-perishable food item, as the AYS Program is participating in "Orchestras Feeding America," a program coordinated by the League of American Orchestras. Inspired by the film The Soloist (released nationwide the weekend of April 24), the AYS Program is partnering with Roadrunner Food Bank to collect food items, in the hope of being a catalyst for positive change in our community.

The AYS portion of the program will feature a performance by AYS Concerto Winner Jason Schindwolf, who will be performing the First Movement of the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovich. Jason is a senior at Cibola High School. Anastasia Nellos is his private teacher, and Cherokee Randolph is his orchestra director (both AYS Alumni). Jason has been in the AYS Program since he was enrolled in the Junior String Orchestra at the age of nine. Jason plans to attend the University of Northern Colorado, where he will continue his musical studies next year.

Also on the program will be the Albuquerque Youth Orchestra performing the works of Rossini, Wilkinson, Tchaikovsky and McIntyre. The Albuquerque Youth Symphony will perform "Hoedown" by Copland, Overture to "Candide" by Bernstein, and South Banks Overture by Australian composer, Colin Brumby, which the AYS will perform in June on their concert tour to Australia. The concerts are sponsored by the City of Albuquerque Urban Enhancement Trust Fund.

AYS Program Families: Click here for the April 25 dress rehearsal & April 26 concert schedules

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2009 - 2010 Auditions

Audition schedules and excerpts are now available online

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Alumni News

AYS Alumnus Kurt Hinterbichler (1999) was selected for the YouTube Symphony. They will perform at Carnegie Hall on April 15 and the concert will be posted on YouTube the next day. Currently there's a documentary about this on Youtube.

Kurt studied physics at Arizona State and played in the orchestra and jazz combos there. He's currently at Columbia in New York City studying theoretical physics. He will graduate this May with his Ph.D, and then he'll go the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for a research job in theoretical physics.

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Student News

AYS Flutist John Wise was awarded the Bruce Kroken Memorial Scholarship after placing first ($1,000 scholarship) in a competition based on an interview and audition. As part of the scholarship, he performed the Chaminade Concertina with the Albuquerque Concert Band on April 6. John is a Valedictorian at Cibola High School, and plans to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, where he'll study mechanical engineering and perform with the Naval Academy's Drum and Bugle Corp.

In related news, at the Albuquerque Flute Association's annual Flute Fiesta on March 14th, John Wise was awarded 1st Place and Sasha Gruetzner (AYS) awarded 2nd place for the 12th graders. Alexandria Parra (AYS) was awarded first place and Carolyn Peck (AYO) awarded second place for the 11th graders. Stephen Wade (AJS) placed first place for 8th graders. Sylvie Tran (AJS) was awarded first place and Miranda Kennedy (AJO) seconded place for 7th graders. Congratulations to all!

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