FARMINGTON – Mid-Maine Youth Orchestra, a collaboration of music students across western and central Maine combined into a full orchestra, will be performing at the Mt. Blue Campus on March 4. MMYO will also be performing at Messalonskee High School in Oakland on March 2.
Regionally, MMYO is a rare opportunity in that it provides students with a chance to rehearse and perform in a full orchestra setting: strings, brass, wind and percussion. The collaboration draws upon seven public school districts, two private schools, two charter schools and homeschooled students. New this year, MMYO entered into a partnership with the Snow Pond Youth Symphony based at Snow Pond Arts Academy. This partnership facilitates SPAA student participation in both full orchestra programs.
Ages 12 to 18, the 41 students represent grades 7 through 12. Each has completed a rigorous audition progress and their skill is evident in their other musical accomplishments: 19 high school members performed at the Maine Music Educators’ Association’s 101st annual All-State Music Festival, 17 students participated in the Kennebec Valley Music Educators Festival and most take part in advanced music programs at their home schools.
“I view us as an enhancement of the outstanding music programs we draw upon,” MMYO conductor and music director Andrew Forster said. “We provide something different, in that band and winds and strings play together.”
MMYO is now in its 34th season, decades after Dennis Hayes and Karen McCann, Mt. Blue music teachers, started the tradition. It is now directed by Forster and Daniel Keller, the associate conductor. Students are typically selected for MMYO in the fall, rehearsing from late October through February. The annual concerts, which take place at MMYO’s “home” campuses of Mt. Blue and Messalonskee, are always in March.
This year’s concert will include “Russian Sailors’ Dance” by Reinhold Glière, “Pavane for a Dead Princess” by Maurice Ravel, “Entr’Acte” from the Opera Die drei Pintos by Gustav Mahler, “The Montagues and the Capulets” from Romeo & Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev, “Summer Dances” by Brian Balmages and “How to Train Your Dragon” by John Powell. The percussion section will be featured as a trio when they play “Layers” by Alan Keown.
The MMYO concert in Oakland will take place on Friday, March 2, at 7 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at Messalonskee High School. The Farmington cocnert is scheduled for Sunday, March 4 at 3 p.m. at Björn Auditorium at Mt. Blue Campus. Admission to the concerts is free, and donations are welcomed at the door.
MMYO is sponsored by the students and their families, and donations are always welcomed to defray the costs of music and other supplies. Advertising opportunities are also available. Their website is www.midmaineyouthorchestra.com. Please contact Kathleen Pike at 897-5815 for more information about the concerts, advertising, sponsorship or future membership. Follow MMYO on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/midmaineyouthorchestra.
