2024-2025 Schedule
2024
13 rehearsals for ES and JS, 14 rehearsals for YS, 1 sectional, ES & JS Tours, Winter Concert
SEPTEMBER
September 9*,16,23,30
OCTOBER
October 7*, 14, 21,28
NOVEMBER
November 4*, 18, 25
DECEMBER
December: 2*, 9, 16 (YS only)
Wednesday December 11 - JS Tour
Thursday December 12 *Snow Date: December 13)– ES Tour
TBD –Holiday Lighting Celebration and Performance – ES Tour
ES Winter Sectionals: Sunday, November 17, 1 -4 pm
JS Winter Sectionals: Sunday, November 17, 1 - 3:45pm
YS Winter Sectionals: Sunday, October 27, 4 - 7pm
PLEASE NOTE: only YS will be rehearsing on 12/16
Sunday, December 15, 2024 Winter Concert
ES: 2:00 pm, JS 3:00 pm, YS 4:15 pm
Hankin Academic Arts Auditorium, WCC
2025
13 rehearsals, 1 sectional, ES & JS Tours, YS Lewis Lionti Concert, Spring Gala Concert
JANUARY
January 6*, 13, 27
FEBRUARY
Feb 3*, 10, 24
Monday, February 3, 2025 Lewis-Lionti Concert
MARCH
March 3*, 10, 17, 24
TBD ES sectionals
March 3 – 4pm - 7pm YS sectionals
APRIL
April 7*, 21, 28,
ES Sectionals: TBD
JS Sectionals: TBD
YS Sectionals: 3/2 4 pm -7 pm
MAY
May 1 – JS Tour
May 2 – ES Spring Bus Tour
Sunday, May 4, 2025 at 1 pm– Spring Gala, Lincoln Center
AUDITIONS for 2025-2026 Season:
TBD May 2025
Committee Meetings last Monday of month.
Last Board meeting May 12*
(*) GWYOA Board meetings
Announcements
GWYOA extends our warmest thanks to all who participated in the successful spring auditions. As you enjoy your summer filled with music, remember to secure your place in the 2024-2025 season by registering before August 1. Waitlisted musicians will be notified of any openings after this date. Tuition for the upcoming season is due on August 10. Click here. We eagerly anticipate a remarkable 2024-2025 season, and look forward to creating beautiful music together.
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Welcome to the 2024-2025 Season
Please see Member Info for arrival and rehearsal times, plus related info.
Parent/Guardian Info for additional detailed information
Rehearsals and the Winter Concert are held at Westchester Community College's Academic Arts Building near parking lot #4.
About the GWYOA
The Greater Westchester Youth Orchestras Association
is dedicated to the development of young people’s
musicianship through rehearsing and performing together.
The GWYOA is a not-for-profit organization providing excellent grounding in cooperation, helping young people to develop self- esteem, and promoting harmony in our ethnically diverse community through classical music training. Founded in 1953, the GWYOA consists of three orchestras made up of students in grades four through twelve from Westchester County, NY, and from the surrounding counties in the Tri-State area, working in cooperation with the Westchester Community College in Valhalla, NY. All three of the orchestras perform Winter and Spring Concerts each year.
History of the GWYOA
Mr. Harry Alshin, a string teacher in the Scarsdale school system, sowed the seeds for a Westchester-based youth orchestra in 1955. He first organized and conducted a countywide group of junior high-school students, preparing the young participants for the challenges of playing in a youth orchestra. Two years later, the original orchestra was established. The modern-day GWYOA is comprised of three groups: Elementary Strings (grades four through six), Junior Strings (grades seven through nine), and the Youth Symphony (for high-school musicians).
Maestro Alshin remained with Junior Strings until he retired in the 1980s. Dale Lewis was the next conductor, and was followed by Vincent Lionti in 1990.
Elementary Strings was organized in 1983 and was first conducted by Jacqueline Stern. She moved on to lead the Junior Strings in 1996 (where she remains today) when Bernard Klinger joined GWYOA as the new (and current) conductor of the Elementary Strings.
The Youth Symphony has had only five conductors since its inception. Victor Lionti, who took over the baton in 1970 and maintained it for 25 years, holds the longest tenure. His son, Vincent Lionti, who played viola with the GWYOA from the age of 12 through high school, followed in his father’s footsteps and began leading the Youth Symphony in 1996. Vincent guided the Youth Symphony with passion for the next 24 years, but tragically passed away on April 3, 2020, from COVID-related illness. Following the incomprehensible loss of Vincent, the board of GWYOA appointed Kathleen Coletta Feldman to the position of interim conductor, and on November 3, 2021, made that appointment permanent.
During the early years, GWYOA was sponsored by Westchester County and rehearsals were held in the basement of the County Center. There was also a six-week sleep-away summer camp co-sponsored by the GWYOA and the county at Croton Point. For many years after that, GWYOA worked in cooperation with the Westchester Community College in Valhalla, NY, where weekly rehearsals and certain performances were held. While adapting to the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, GWYOA has been working in cooperation with the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, White Plains High School, and St. Gregory the Enlightener Armenian Church for rehearsals and performances.
Performance Venues
The GWYOA orchestras perform in a wide range of venues. In the past they have been honored to perform at:
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts
Carnegie Hall
David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center
Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center
Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center
Ellis Island
Kennedy Center
SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center
Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital
MENC Eastern Division Conference
NYSSMA State Conferences
White Plains Performing Arts Center
1976 Bicentennial celebration in Philadelphia
Various local nursing homes, elementary and middle schools.