SAN JOSE YOUTH SYMPHONY
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Mission Statement
The San Jose Youth Symphony offers musical performance education to school-age members, in 11 ensembles and orchestras. Member musicians learn about orchestral performance in rehearsals and concerts. SJYS also offers music education in local public and private schools through its "Music Matters" after-school enrichment program. Since 1951, SJYS was part of the San Jose Symphony under its management until 2001, when the Symphony ceased operation. It became an independent, non-profit organization in 2002, and has continued to grow and thrive ever since.
About This Cause
The San Jose Youth Symphony (SJYS) is one of the oldest and finest youth orchestras on the West Coast of the U.S. Founded over seven decades ago as part of the former San Jose Symphony, SJYS has a rich tradition of musical performance and education. The mission of SJYS is to give young people a foundation for life through orchestral music. We create programs that assure young musicians achieve technical proficiency, musical knowledge and an emotional connection to music. We strive to make each performance for the community uplifting, spirited and exciting. Today, SJYS comprises over 500 musicians, ranging in age from 8 to 20, and are chosen from more than 700 applicants through our annual auditions. The SJYS comprises 12 distinct performing ensembles: two full orchestras, a chamber orchestra, two flute choirs, two string ensembles, concert winds, saxophone, percussion, jazz and harp ensembles. Each orchestra and ensemble performs a scheduled series of concerts every season. SJYS ensembles rehearse weekly from September through early June. In addition, SJYS member musicians participate in one of three, week-long intensive, summer camps, that take place in late July and early August, where they attend daily rehearsals, workshops, masterclasses and sectionals. SJYS's three orchestras and its Avancé Flute Choir hold competitions each season, which are kindly sponsored by the San Jose Symphony Foundation. Winners of these competitions win cash awards as well as the opportunity to perform as soloists with their respective ensembles. As part of its outreach activities, SJYS offers after-school, low-cost instrumental lessons at local schools with no music programs in San Jose through its "Music Matters" program. "Music Matters" is meant to introduce as many children as possible to music education and develop in them an appreciation for music. SJYS also provides financial aid to those students who establish financial need, as well as complimentary tickets to concerts performed by its orchestras and ensembles each season. The Philharmonic Orchestra is the premier ensemble of SJYS, led by Music Director and Conductor Yair Samet, former Associate Conductor of the San Jose Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra performs its three subscription concerts at the California Theatre in downtown San Jose. It also performs concerts for various organizations throughout the community and city events, among them an annual concert at Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph as part of the “Season of Hope” holiday performance series, and in the past, at City Hall events, the San Jose Holiday Parade, the Rotary and the Kiwanis Clubs, Santa Clara University Christmas Celebration, Stanford and the Los Gatos Hospitals, the Child’s Advocate, and senior homes and homeless shelters. The Philharmonic Orchestra has collaborated with both local and international leading arts groups, including the San Jose Symphony Orchestra, the Asian Youth Orchestra, the Ireland National Youth Orchestra, the Okayama Youth Orchestra, San Jose Taiko, Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra, Mariachi Cobre, San Jose Children’s Musical Theater, the Latin Jazz Ensemble from San Jose State University, and most recently, the Los Gatos Ballet, in its annual production of The Nutcracker. Every other year, the Philharmonic Orchestra embarks on an international concert tour, for two weeks in June and July. In previous tours, the orchestra has traveled to Italy, Germany and Austria, and several countries in Eastern Europe, including Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic, performing at Smetana Hall in Prague, the renowned Mozarteum Concert Hall in Salzburg, Austria, Dvorak Concert Hall and the Liszt Academy of Music, some of Europe’s finest concert halls. In 2005, the Philharmonic Orchestra performed in Spain with world-renowned pianist Jon Nakamatsu, and in 2015, the orchestra returned to Spain to perform at Granada's International Music Festival, and at Valencia's Palau de la Musica. The orchestra has also toured Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Japan, Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina, performing in venues including the National Symphony Hall in Dublin, Ireland, the Mozartsaal in Stuttgart, Germany, the Music Conservatory Hall in Brussels, Belgium, the famed Chofu Green Hall in Tokyo, the Shimin Kaykan Civic Hall in Okayama, and the Archaic Hall in Amagasaki, Japan.