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We are thrilled to announce that Matthew Davis will take over for John Dupuis as the Philharmonia Conductor for our upcoming 2014-2015 season. Mr. Davis is the current FSYO Prelude Orchestra Conductor.

More Information on Mr. Davis:

Matthew Davis is currently Director of Strings at the Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts in Lakeland, Florida. In addition to conducting the Harrison Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Davis also teaches music theory, music composition, and chamber music. Under his direction, the Harrison Symphony Orchestra was selected to perform at the 2007 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago and the 2010 Festival des Anches in La Croix Valmer, France. Currently, Mr. Davis is on the faculty of the Florida State University Summer Music Camps, where he co-conducts the Symphony String, Guarneri and Chamber orchestras. An active All-County clinician, Mr. Davis has conducted middle school and high school honors orchestras in Tampa, Fort Myers, and Naples, Florida as well as San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Davis holds a Master of Music Education from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Music in cello performance from Indiana University.

Mr. Davis was recently awarded a Surdna Arts Teachers Fellowship to travel to the Netherlands to study Baroque cello at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He has also been named Harrison School for the Arts Teacher of the Year for 2011-12. Previously, Mr. Davis served as Director of Orchestras at Denton High School in Denton, Texas, during which time his orchestra was named first runner-up in the Texas Honor Orchestra Competition. In 2004, Mr. Davis was presented with the Marjorie Keller Young Teacher Award by the Texas chapter of the American String Teachers Association.

As a cellist, Mr. Davis has studied with Lubomir Georgiev, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Helga Winold, Nathaniel Rosen, and Richard Aaron and served as the assistant principal cello of the Tallahassee Symphony. He performed on tour with the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra in the United States, Russia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, and in chamber music programs at the Encore School for Strings, the Quartet Program, and the Chautauqua Institute. Mr. Davis is a member of the American String Teachers Association and the Florida Music Educators Association. He currently serves as the All-State Music Committee Chair and District 12 Chair for the Florida Orchestra Association.

For Immediate Release

April 15, 2014

The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra Presents its 57th Season Finale Concert

The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra would like to celebrate another outstanding season with a thoughtfully crafted collection of classical music masterpieces. The FSYO's 57th Season Finale will take place on Sunday, May 4, 2014, at the historic Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in Downtown Orlando. All four of the organization's award winning youth orchestras will be performing and will feature soloist and Concerto Competition finalist, Tyler Pacheco, 17 (viola), performing the 1st Movement of the Walton Viola Concerto. Forty graduating seniors will also be recognized for their unbreakable dedication to FSYO and to furthering their classical music development.

The FSYO strives to recognize our students' talents and give them opportunities to showcase that talent in the best venues. About soloing on stage at the Bob Carr, Tyler says, "I think it is everyone's dream to play as a soloist with an orchestra, there is nothing like it. I have wanted to play with an orchestra since I can remember, and to be given the opportunity on such a grand stage, with the Symphonic Orchestra at the Bob Carr center, it truly feels like a dream come true."

The Viola Concerto by William Walton was the piece that brought Walton to the forefront of British Classical Music. This piece has proven to be technically challenging for even the most accomplished violists, but Tyler feels that "getting the composer's wishes across to the audience is more challenging than any sixteenth note run". We hope that you will join us as Tyler tackles this piece, backed by his peers of FSYO's Symphonic Orchestra.

FSYO will also host a silent auction to take place during the event, featuring items from some of Central Florida's best restaurant, retail and entertainment venues. Proceeds will serve to support and enhance the opportunities FSYO can offer to nurture the talents of young musicians throughout Central Florida.

The concert will begin at 4 p.m. at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, 401 W Livingston St, Downtown Orlando on Sunday, May 4, 2014. Tickets range from $8.00 to $16.00 and can be purchased via www.fsyo.org. As usual, all teachers receive free admission to this and all FSYO concerts.

About the Soloist: Award winning violist, Tyler Pacheco, 17, is a senior at Lake Highland Preparatory School. Tyler has played the viola since age 9. This is Tyler's fourth year as a member of the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra, this year holding the principal violist position.

About FSYO: The FSYO, currently in its 57th Concert Season, comprises three full orchestras, one string training orchestra and various chamber groups, made up of more than 250 students from eight Central Florida counties, including Orange, Osceola, Lee, Seminole, Brevard, Lake, Highlands and Volusia. Programs are sponsored in part by the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs; the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; Darden Restaurant Foundation; Universal Orlando Foundation; TD Bank; and United Arts of Central Florida. We thank these groups for their generous support. The FSYO is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For more information, please visit www.fsyo.org.

This season marked the start of something wonderful and new for FSYO: the launch of the new beginning violin program, Sing-Song, String-Along. Graciously funded by TD Bank, Sing-Song, String-Along is a music education program focused on nurturing the musical, social, and cognitive development of primary-age children, through the study of the violin in a small-group setting.

For 15 weeks, 12 young, budding musicians and their parents met, learned, laughed and grew as the program's first-ever class. Lessons combined music engagement, ear training, and fine motor skill development as students learned beginning violin. One of the best parts of the program was the student-parent interaction. Students and parents learned to hold the instrument and bow comfortably, correct bow placement and how to recognize and produce a beautiful tone on their instrument. Parents were asked to actively participate in each class in order to continue empowering their little learners at home, which they did, and it proved to play a significant role in the success of the program.

In order to wrap-up the program and show off what they learned, the students of Sing-Song, String-Along presented an open house, on Sunday, February 16th at the College Park Baptist Church. The event was filled with family, friends and a beautiful rendition of "Chicken on a Fence Post". We are so proud of our students and would like to congratulate them on a job well done. We look forward to watching their development and to the future success of the program!

logo power2give

To close out 2013, the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra launched its first Power2Give campaign in hopes of raising the funds needed to replace the organization's old, worn conductor's podium. Well, we did it! - or should we say YOU did it! Thanks to the help of some generous supporters and an anonymous donor who agreed to match some funds, the FSYO will be purchasing a new, sturdy conductor's podium and road case that will serve us for years to come. We hope to debut the podium at the Finale Concert in May and will post updates, as the time gets closer.

For those unfamiliar with the site, power2give.org is similar to crowd funding websites, such as kickstarter.com and indiegogo.com, but is geared toward assisting in the fundraising of non-profit arts organizations. If you wanted to donate to this project but didn't get the chance, don't fret; we are always working on something and could always use your help! Future donations can be made here and be on the look out for our future power2give campaigns!

For Immediate Release

February 25, 2014

Spring into Music with the FSYO Annual Children Helping Children Concert

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra, in partnership with The Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, presents their annual Children Helping Children Concert on Sunday, March 9, 2014. FSYO's pre-professional Symphonic Orchestra, with special soloists and Concerto Competition Finalists: Rebecca Edge and John Horzen, will perform in hopes of introducing young concertgoers to classical music while increasing awareness, raising funds and collecting donations for Second Harvest Food Bank. An ongoing partnership, all proceeds of this event will go to The Second Harvest Food Bank as they fight to end hunger and feed hope.

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Students from FSYO's Symphonic Orchestra celebrate a successful community partnership in 2013!

Families all over Central Florida are struggling to get by and, far too often, hard decisions must be made that leave little to no money for food. According to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, over 150 thousand children are struggling with hunger in our area every day. The Second Harvest Food Bank pools and allocates donations to over 500 nonprofit community partners such as shelters, soup kitchens and pantries, who then distribute items to those in need. With help from donations, $1 can turn into up to $9 in food, and can make real difference. With your help, fewer Central Florida children will go to bed hungry.

The concert will begin at 3:00 p.m. at the College Park Baptist Church, located at 1914 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, FL 32804. Admission can be obtained traditionally by purchasing tickets via www.fsyo.org or by bringing 5-10 canned goods per person to donate to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. As usual, all teachers receive free admission to this and all FSYO concerts.

About The Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Food: Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is a non-profit organization with a vision of a hunger-free Central Florida. They work to realize this vision by providing access to food and other grocery products in order to meet the need of nutritious food in our community. The organization mobilizes leaders and communities by bringing visibility to the invisible problem of hunger and poverty throughout the six Central Florida countries in which the agency works: Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia. The goal of the organization is to provide availability and access to food and other grocery products in order to close the gap between need for food and availability by having programs such as Grocery Alliance, Community Kitchen, Hi-Five Kids Pack Program and Kids Café, among others. For more information please visit http://www.foodbankcentralflorida.org

About FSYO: The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra aims to educate and inspire Central Florida's top young musicians via programs committed to strengthening musical talents and developing appreciation of the arts through classical music. The FSYO, in its 57th Concert Season, comprises three full orchestras, one string training orchestra and various chamber groups, made up of more than 250 students from eight Central Florida counties, including Orange, Osceola, Lee, Seminole, Brevard, Lake, Highlands and Volusia. Programs are sponsored in part by the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs; the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; Darden Restaurant Foundation; Universal Orlando Foundation; and United Arts of Central Florida. We thank these groups for their generous support. The FSYO is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For more information, please visit www.fsyo.org.

Joey Every year the FSYO presents its Celebration of Music Education Concert. This concert was created to promote the importance of music education, as well as honor the music educators that play an important role in the lives of our students. In line with honoring educators, we also give out an individual award to acknowledge a music educator that is doing outstanding work within the community. This year we would like to honor Joseph Vascik as an Outstanding Music Educator at our concert on Sunday, February 23, at The College Park Baptist Church Sanctuary - 1914 Edgewater Drive Orlando, FL 32804, 3:00 pm

"Local music teachers are essential to the musical growth and development of FSYO members. Joey Vascik is truly a great inspiration to many young trombonists in our community. It's with great appreciation that we present this award to him. Thank you Joey!" - Andrew Lane, Music Director

Joseph Vascik performs and teaches the trombone, euphonium, and bass trumpet. He earned his bachelor's degree in trombone performance from New England Conservatory. He credits Norman Bolter, Mike Roylance, Jeff Thomas, Roy Pickering, and Rick Fleming as valuable teachers. Joseph has performed with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Jacksonville Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Brevard Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, and the Southwest Florida Symphony. He has recorded for Warner Brothers, Walt Disney World, and the Bach Festival Orchestra. He just completed his fifteenth year of playing with the Walt Disney World Orchestra for the Candlelight Processional.

Joseph teaches forty-five private students weekly and conducts a trombone choir of his students. His students repeatedly win auditions for Florida's All-State and All-County bands. Many of the trombone players in FSYO are students of Joseph. His students have been accepted and offered scholarships at many music schools, including the Curtis Institute, New England Conservatory, Interlochen Center For The Arts, and Manhattan School of Music. Outside of music, Joseph loves spending time with his wife and son, mountain biking, playing racquetball, and cooking with his giant wok.

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FSYO Announces Matthew Davis, Incoming Philharmonia Conductor for 2014-2015 Season

FSYO to host 2013-2014 Season Finale

Sing-Song, String-Along Wrap-Up

FSYO Power2Give Project Fully Funded

FSYO to host The Children Helping Children Concert

FSYO Honors Joseph Vascik at Celebration of Music Education Concert