Auditions for 2007

Do you love to play music and enjoy getting to know others who share your interests? Music ensembles provide a fun and challenging way to rehearse and perform great music together with other young musicians from a six-county area.

As part of an ensemble, you will meet weekly from mid-September through April. You’ll have the chance to perform both locally and abroad, and will participate in the annual Showcase Concert featuring 350 music and dance students at The Whiting.

If your school has a band, choir or orchestra, you are also required to belong to whichever is appropriate.

Flint Youth Symphony Orchestra
The Flint Youth Symphony Orchestra (FYSO) is made up of string, wind, brass, percussion, piano and harp players. Together, this dynamic group rehearses and performs a variety of exciting symphonic repertoire.

Travel and exchange opportunities abound with the FYSO. The orchestra has developed relationships with Lisieux Youth Orchestra and Limonest Music School (France), Gunma (Japan) Junior Philharmonic, Repton (England) Chamber Orchestra and Huddersfield (England) Youth Orchestra. Every other year, the group travels to one of those countries to perform with those orchestras and others. Trips in 1992 and 2000 included performances at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall.

In years when it is not on the road, the FYSO frequently enjoys foreign visitors. In 2005, the FYSO hosted the International Youth Music Festival. They joined more than 100 French, English, Belgian and Japanese participants in master classes, workshops, concerts and parties.

Flint Youth Wind Ensemble
Outstanding experiences await you in the Flint Youth Wind Ensemble. Wind, brass and percussion players come together to rehearse and perform a variety of selections from the standard and contemporary concert band repertoire. Nearly every year, the Wind Ensemble premieres commissioned pieces.

Wind Ensemble students travel regularly, sharing their music with audiences in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Toronto, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Columbus.

Flint Youth Philharmonia
Love of music is what this energetic group of intermediate string, wind, brass, percussion, piano and harp players is all about. They rehearse and perform a great variety of middle and high school level orchestral arrangements.

For the past 20 years, Philharmonia members have toured Toronto, Chicago and Cleveland, performing their music in both public and private concerts.

Flint Youth String Orchestra
Put it all together and experience the thrill of performing. This lively group of intermediate string students learns all about the fundamentals of ensemble playing through a great variety of music.

Flint Festival Youth Chorus
If you’ve always wanted to join your voice with others in an outstanding choir experience, this is the place to be. Students from eight to 18 have the chance to rehearse and perform a wide variety of works, often sharing performances with other groups throughout the community.

More Ensembles
A wide variety of other opportunities exist including:

              madrigals
              brass quintets
              string quartets 
              piano ensembles
              saxophone quartets
              woodwind quintets

Great chamber music and band experiences for adults are also available.

Dort Honors String Quartet (grades 9 - 12) 

Members of the Flint Youth Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia can audition in September for one of the most visible of the FSPA ensembles, the Dort Honors String Quartet. The Dort Quartet gives a number of high profile performances each year, including the Buick Open Pairs Party and Flint Mayor’s Ball. Dort Quartet members also receive scholarships for quartet coaching sessions and private lessons, and they perform a full recital each year.

Music on the Move
Be one of the FSPA’s most important ambassadors as part of Music on the Move! FSPA students and ensembles travel throughout the area to perform for a variety of groups from civic organizations like Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs to the Children’s Champion Awards Breakfast. More than 50 concerts are performed each year.

Auditions   (Click here for Audition Requirements)