Youth Orchestras of San Antonio (YOSA) want to be on your radar this weekend, and here's why: They're
looking for a few good boys and girls.
“We’re going to be hearing auditions for next year’s orchestras at YOSA," said Troy Peters, YOSA’s music director.
“We expect that by the end of auditions that we will have heard from almost 500 young musicians," he said.
The auditions are distinctly not like "American Idol."
“Yeah, the auditions don’t happen in front of an audience or anything," Peters said. "You go into a room and play before a pair of judges, and then we do our best to find a place for every interested student. You don’t need to be nervous or worried about it. You just need to come and show us what you can do. Play a song you already know, plays some music that we put in front of you, and we’ll do our best to find a place where you’ll be challenged and have a chance to learn and make music with other young musicians."
They’re looking for one group of musicians in particular.
“We’re especially in need of high-level brass players,” Peters said.
Now, if you’re unfamiliar with what YOSA actually does, Troy puts it this way.
“YOSA is this collection of amazing young musicians from all over San Antonio. They get together, they work in groups. There’s 450 of them playing in different orchestras,” he said.
I asked Peters what parents and students need to know.
“What we ask is that families commit to showing up every week," he said. "There is a tuition fee for being involved in YOSA, but we also have financial aid. More than a third of our students receive financial aid and we have quite a few students who participate for free thanks to the support of lots of generous donors."
- For more on YOSA’s auditions visit: www.yosa.org/programs/yosa-orchestras/auditioninformation/
- And learn about their upcoming trip to Quebec: www.yosa.org/programs/tours/2014-tour/
