The Tulsa Youth Symphony Orchestra (TYSO) is an Oklahoma nonprofit arts organization founded in 1963 with a stated mission to provide advanced orchestral training and performance experience for talented young musicians in Northeastern Oklahoma. As of 2016, more than 200 students, ages 8 to 18, participate in the program’s two orchestras. The orchestra is composed of students from northeast Oklahoma communities and schools including Tulsa, Bartlesville, Owasso, Sapulpa, Sand Springs, Broken Arrow, Bixby, Coweta, Grove, Oologah, Jenks, and Holland Hall, as well as home schooled children. The orchestra celebrated its 50th year in the 2013 season.
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History
The Tulsa Youth Symphony Orchestra began as an educational wing of the Tulsa Philharmonic in the early 1960s. In October 1962, Tulsa Philharmonic Society President Burch Mayo appointed a committee of six Society board members to explore the possibility of establishing a Tulsa Youth Symphony Orchestra. The committee members included Bonnibel Lester, Betty Bradstreet, C.A. Astle, Herbert Gussman (founder of the Tulsa Philharmonic), Dr. Robert L. Briggs and Gerald Whitney. Briggs was the chair of the music department at the University of Tulsa and Whitney was Supervisor of Music for the Tulsa Public Schools. Mrs. Lester chaired the committee. The board members had extensive ties in the music world - Gussman's friendships included Isaac Stern, Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Istomin, and Jan Pierce. The 78 member Youth Symphony gave its debut concert on February 15, 1964, in the Tulsa Municipal Theater - now known as the Brady Theater. They performed Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2. The featured soloist was the orchestra's Principal Trumpet, Phil Driscoll. A second concert was given May 9, also in the Municipal Theater. In August 1965, Tulsa hosted the National Youth Symphony convention at the Mayo Hotel; Maestro Franco Autori, conducted the convention orchestra. Mrs. Richard Nixon attended a Tulsa Youth Symphony concert in her honor May 13, 1971.
In the fall of 2003 the Tulsa Youth Symphony added another orchestra, the "Concert Orchestra." In 2016, a Preparatory String Orchestra was added. Currently TYS has five conductors: Ronald Wheeler and Richard Wagner, Symphony Orchestra Conductors; Pete Peterson, Concert Orchestra Conductor; and Michael Nicholson and Amelia Ivory, Preparatory Orchestra Conductors.
Chamber Orchestra
In 1989 the Tulsa Youth Symphony added a Chamber Orchestra which performed at All Souls Unitarian Church in the spring. This provided an opportunity for the best orchestra members to perform in a small group and to appear as soloists. The Youth Symphony also provides free children's concerts.
Conductors
The search for a conductor commenced in early 1963, and by April the board had selected Max Waits. Waits was Principal Flute of the Tulsa Philharmonic and Assistant Professor of Flute and Piano at the University of Tulsa. In May, he named as assistants Robert McNally, Principal Second Violinist of the Philharmonic, and Mr. Eugene Schweiger, Principal Cellist of the Philharmonic.
Robert McNally took over as conductor in the 1966-67 season, and remained through the 1971-72 season. At that time, McNally was appointed Concertmaster of the Tulsa Philharmonic, and Ron Wheeler became Youth Symphony Conductor in the 1972-73 season. Wheeler had been the assistant conductor of the Youth Symphony since 1970. He was also a violinist in the Tulsa Philharmonic, and Production Manager of the Philharmonic.
Ron Wheeler has been conductor and executive director of the Tulsa Youth Symphony Orchestra since 1972. He was on the Oral Roberts University music faculty for fourteen years. Mr. Wheeler has designed and conducted concerts for young audiences with the Tulsa Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and the Sunriver, Oregon Music Festival Orchestra, and presented adult educational lectures for the Tulsa Philharmonic, Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Public Library and California State University at Los Angeles. He has conducted at music camps and festivals in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, California, Oregon, and North Dakota, and is an honorary member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity as a National Arts Associate. Wheeler currently performs as a violinist with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra.
In March 1981 Youth Symphony Assistant Conductor Grant Cooper, a native New Zealander conducted the American Premiere of Aotearoa by contemporary composer Douglas Lilburn, also a New Zealander.
Richard Wagner has been with the Tulsa Youth Symphony since 2002 and is currently co-conductor of the Symphony Orchestra. He also is the Director of Instrumental Music at Bixby High School in Bixby, Oklahoma, and is in his seventh year as the conductor of the University of Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. Richard has been on the faculties of Oklahoma State University and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain.
Earl "Pete" Peterson's is currently Concert Orchestra Conductor. Pete Peterson has served as cellist with the Gettysburg Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Ballet, Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and Signature Symphony. He teaches music at Union High School, and led the orchestra in regional and national contests from Branson, Missouri, to Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C.
Auditions
The Tulsa Youth Symphony auditions students in May for the season beginning the following September. Students range from grade 3 through grade 12.
World Premiere Concerts
Tours
Over the years the Youth Symphony has presented concerts out of town, in such places as London, England, St. Louis, Missouri, Los Angeles, California, and in cities in Oklahoma including Bartlesville, Chickasha, Henryetta, Norman, Oklahoma City, Tahlequah as well as Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Youth Symphony presented its first "Tour Concert" on May 10, 1964 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Fundraising and sponsorship
Funding was initially provided by the Tulsa Philharmonic, and then by the Junior Division of the Tulsa Philharmonic. Since 2003, the Youth Symphony has been an independent organization, with major support from the Albert and Hete Barthelmes Foundation. All other funds are raised by students, parents and staff or through ticket sales. Rehearsal facilities have been donated by Oral Roberts University.
Notable alumnae
Tulsa Youth Symphony alumni have held permanent positions in many of America's orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and National Symphony, perform on Broadway, serve as educators or specialize in other facets of music. A partial list of alumns active in music includes:
Over the years our graduates have attended The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute, Cleveland Institute, Eastman School of Music, Harvard University, Cincinnati College-Conservatory, Oberlin, Manhattan School of Music, Stanford and many others. Many others went on to successful careers in medicine, engineering, finance, education, energy and many other fields.
Awards and recognition
Nationally recognized students have included: