❄️Dec. Issue | 2018

The name of our newsletter is Prima Sedia — Italian for First Chair

Notes from the LYS Board of Directors

Greetings LYS Families, As the fall semester of LYS draws to a close, the board of directors would like to thank all of our LYS students and their families for being a part of our program. We hope everyone has a restful and enjoyable holiday season and look forward to new challenges when we regroup in January. Also, as the holiday shopping season comes to a close, please consider shopping through the smile.amazon.com portal and designating LYS as your charity. Also, an LYS King Soopers gift card makes a great stocking-stuffer or teacher gift -- get the card for $5 with that same amount pre-loaded, charge it up to the desired level, and LYS benefits from the matching funds. King Soopers cards will be available for purchase at Notes and Noodles. Thank you for your continued support of Longmont Youth Symphony!  Take care, Jon King LYS Board President jeking@longmontyouthsymphony.org

LYS Winter Break - Mark your calendars There will be no LYS rehearsals from November 24-December 29 . Have a great winter break!

Annual Silent Auction Saturday, January 19: It's time to start thinking about our annual Silent Auction.  Donations valued at $50 or more will count as 1 volunteer hour.   Each LYS family is required to donate 2 items with a minimum value of $25. We encourage you to reach out to local organizations for donations.  Please see below for more information.

LYSO Side-by-Side Concert with Longmont Symphony Saturday, January 19: 4:00 PM Location: Skyline High School, Longmont This is a family friendly concert Tickets can be purchased through the Longmont Symphony.

LYS Open House Rehearsal Saturday, January 26: 9:00 AM Location: Altona Middle School, Longmont Please invite anyone you know who might be interested in joining LYS to attend our open house rehearsal . This is a great opportunity for interested students to see what we are all about. Anyone is welcome to attend this rehearsal and there is no cost to attend.

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Annual Silent Auction Information Please help us make the silent auction a success! This is a great way to engage the local Longmont community. While you are not required to solicit local businesses for donations, we do encourage it. Take this letter along with you when you visit a business. Donations valued at $100 will be awarded with two free tickets to the LSO Family Concert. Volunteer to help with the silent auction.

Additional Information: Every LYS family is required to donate two items with a minimum value of $25 each. If your family chooses not to donate an item, you can make a donation of $50. Donations valued at $50 or more will count as 1 volunteer hour. The donated items should be either new (like new is ok too) or an original creation of some kind. Gift Cards are not preferred because there is a maximum value to them. Donations are due on January 12. We cannot accommodate late donation for this event. You can begin dropping off items at our first January rehearsal. Fill out and return this donation form with each donated item. Please keep in mind when filling out the donation form that you are the solicitor, not the donor in most cases. Contact information for the donor is critical so we can send thank you notes after the auction. As you are soliciting businesses for donation items, refer to and fill out this form. The form needs to be updated after every business you solicit, no matter if you are successful or not. This will help everyone else see what businesses have been visited and if they have donated or not. Check this spreadsheet before soliciting to be sure you are not repeating businesses.

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We are in the process of standing up a Student Leadership Team. Ultimately LYS exists for benefit of the students, and we want to make sure you have a voice in current activities and the future direction of the organization. Kristen Beeman and Keynes Chen will be providing board oversight and structure, but the committee will be driven primarily by the students. Ideally we want to have a cross-section from all LYS ensembles, including new students as well as those who have been with us for a while, so all are encouraged to participate.  Please contact Kristen if you are interested in being part of this committee.

Notes 🎵 from Mr. Chen, LYWE Music Director Dear LYS Family,   I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and also I truly wish you all Happy Holiday's and a very Happy New Year!!! While we all can relax and recharge during the holidays, those of you in LYSO, please also do not forget about Tchaik 5;) For very advanced pieces like this one, the key to good practice results is "Small-but-Quality-Daily-Dosages" . Last minute practices is of course better than no practice... but it will not secure a good audition;) Tchaik 5 is such a wonderful piece, but also very difficult to pull off well. Let us all work together diligently and give this piece what it deserves!!!  Please also keep spreading the word about LYS!!! Our December audition only had 4 students auditioning... We really need much bigger orchestras and ensembles in order to pull off great symphonic masterpieces!!! In addition, while there are many studies and research articles out there regarding how the brain is affected by playing a musical instrument... I thought this little bonus was a fun one: Watch Here  Looking forward to see you all in 2019:)  Warmest regards, Mr. Chen

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Students who qualify can receive tuition scholarships for any LYS ensemble and payment assistance for approved private lessons. Learn more about our program...

It's easy to advertise with LYS! Please visit our website to learn about advertising opportunities in our concert programs. We are currently seeking grant opportunities and sponsorship from local businesses! More information...

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Northern Colorado’s Premier Youth Orchestra

Longmont Youth Symphony is a non-profit organization established in 1996.The Longmont Youth Symphony is an orchestra committed to serving the young musicians of the St. Vrain Valley and surrounding areas. The Youth Symphony provides a resource for young musicians to further develop and excel in their musical abilities through the guidance of professional leadership and direction. By doing so, we enable our youth to entertain, educate, and expand appreciation of music within the community.