Young People's Symphony Orchestra

Four young people from our church are in Young People's Symphony Orchestra, the oldest youth symphony in California and the second oldest in the United States. They started their 2007-08 season this last weekend with back-to-back concerts, one at the Valley Center for the Performing Arts in Oakland and the other at Vacaville Performing Arts Theatre in Vacaville. They played three pieces in a 2 1/2 hour concert starting with the four movements of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's (1844-1908) Capriccio Espagnol Op. 34, then to all four movements of Franz Liszt's (1811-1886) Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major for Piano and Orchestra (Chloe Pang on piano), and finishing with the four movements of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's (1840-1893) Symphony No. 6 in b minor, Op. 75, Pathetique.

Above is my daughter Julia, who plays second violin.

Here is James Brant, who also played second violin. And then below is my son Kirk, who is the principal trombone of the orchestra.

We didn't have her picture, but another young lady from our church, Joyce Balatbat, also plays second violin in the orchestra. Next summer they will tour Australia and New Zealand, playing in the Sidney Opera House, and we will keep you updated on some of what they will be doing. If you book your travel at our very competitive travel site, you can help us raise funds for the tour and help yourself at the same time.