Young musicians can join Westmoreland Symphony youth programs

The Westmoreland Youth Symphony Orchestra Program is offering three orchestra playing opportunities for young musicians in elementary school through high school:

• WYSO Philharmonic, open to high school and advanced middle school students by audition. It will meet Wednesday evenings beginning Feb. 5 at the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center.

Repertoire includes Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” and Powell’s “How to Train Your Dragon Suite.”

• WYSO Philharmonia, comprised of mostly middle school musicians, will meet Saturday mornings beginning Feb. 15 at Otterbein Methodist Church in Greensburg. No audition is required, but students must have a recommendation from their private teacher or band director.

Some of the repertoire includes Bach’s “Brandenburg Sinfonia” and the last movement of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2.

• WYSO String Ensemble, open to young string students who have completed a first-year method book. Monday evening classes at the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center focus on the basics of ensemble playing and how to follow a conductor.

The first rehearsal is Feb. 15, with a performance on May 11.

The Westmoreland Youth Symphony Orchestra Program, founded in 1981, is an educational offering of the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s Academy of Music. Members of the orchestras range in age from 7 to 18 and come from throughout the western Pennsylvania region.

For more information, call 724-837-1850, email director Morrie Brand at morrie@westmorelandsymphony.org or visit westmorelandsymphony.org