PREPARATORY STRINGS
ILLINOIS MUSIC EDUCATION CONFERENCE
Orchestra Division Performance | January 28, 2016
WORLD-CLASS TRAINING
ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITIES
NOW AUDITIONING FOR THE 2016-2017 SEASON!
Seven orchestras open to ages 6 - 18.
Auditions to take place April 2016.
VISIT CYSO.ORG/AUDITION
WELCOME
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Music Director,
Allen Tinkham, and the entire Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras community, I want to thank the Illinois
Music Education Association for the honor of playing for you today. Each year, I am astonished by the
growth that our young musicians make as individuals,
musicians, and as an orchestra. Today represents
hours of individual practice, months of weekend rehearsals, and countless car, train, and bus rides to
and from downtown Chicago.
As you read this letter, I invite you to take a moment to
look at the stage filled with young faces. Over the past
69 years, CYSO stages have been filled with thousands of young students, each with
their own ambitions. Those chairs were once occupied by another aspiring young
musician who today is a professional musician, teacher, doctor, lawyer, engineer,
business leader, civic leader, a parent... and the list goes on. It is exciting to think
about where these young students will be in five, ten, or twenty years from now, and
I hope their experiences at CYSO and in their school music programs, no matter what
professional field they choose, will help them become tomorrow’s leaders.
I also want to congratulate our conductor, Daniella Valdez, on the extraordinary work
she does with our students. In her 10 years at CYSO I am continually impressed and
amazed by the depth of her musicianship and the breadth of her skills. She is an excellent teacher with a tremendous sense of responsibility and care for the needs of
her students.
I am deeply proud of the commitment and hard work that each student puts into
their CYSO experience and hope you will join me in congratulating them. They are
the reason we are here— to give each and every student the opportunity to express
themselves creatively, and as CYSO’s mission states, to cultivate and inspire personal
excellence through music.
With deepest gratitude,
Joshua Simonds
Executive Director
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras’ Preparatory Strings
Illinois Music Education Conference
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Peoria Civic Center
Daniella Valdez, conductor
Anne McTighe, conductor
Joshua Simonds, Executive Director
Allen Tinkham, Music Director
sharing program with:
Rolling Meadows High School Symphony Orchestra
Kevin Carroll (CYSO alumnus), conductor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
arr. Parrish
Serenata Notturna
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
arr. Cerulli
Organ Fugue in G Minor
Michael Senturia (b. 1937)
Anne McTighe, conductor
Allegro Giocoso
Richard Meyer (b. 1952)
Anne McTighe, conductor
Ear-Igami
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
arr. Monday
Doug Spata (b. 1975)
Interlude (from Rhapsody in B Minor, Op. 79, No. 1)
Crusader
Violin
Rami Alkadri
Elizabeth Allen-Gabin
Hala Atassi
Maya Atassi
Henry Auxenfans
Baron Balfour
Dean Barrow
Alexander Bautista
Jolisa Cage
Mengzhu Cai
Avery Calhoon
Leon Cao
Nikki Chopra
Ysabel Colita
Clara Cui
Beck Edwards
Alice Fan
Wells Gjerlow
Chance Inouye
Samantha Irwin
Ume Jorgensen
Faiyaz Khan
Julia Kim
Avital LaCroix
Nourit LaCroix
Sam Li
Yanchen Liu
David McDermott
Violet Nash
Grace Patterson
Anthony Przeszlo
Madeline Ren
Isabella Rossi
Uma Schroeder-Monasterios
Eugenie Schuster
Amarin Sharma
Halime Shero
Emma Snyder
Carolina Sperekas
Claire Stroger
Saira Torres
Dante Vairus
Raymond Wang
Sola West
Amanda Woolley
Viola
Ellen Campbell
Stephanie Fineberg
Benjamin Kim
Kene Obiaya
Cello
Kai Dizon
Jack Kahan
Gabriela Manzano
Letterio Montalbano
Alejandro Quiles
Yaseen Qureshi
Kierson Rickmon
Julia Soto
Bass
Naomi Loos
Percussion
Frederick McClure, Jr. *
* Symphony Orchestra member performing on Ear-Igami
ABOUT CYSO
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras has provided music education
through orchestral programs and performance opportunities of the
highest caliber since 1946.
CYSO serves more than 500 students ages 6-18 through three full orchestras, three
string orchestras, and supplemental programs including chamber music ensembles,
music theory, and composition. CYSO musicians receive superb orchestral and
chamber music instruction from Chicago’s most respected professional musicians,
performs in the world’s greatest concert halls, and gain the self-confidence and
discipline necessary for a successful future.
CYSO’s Community Engagement Programs connect with the Chicago community
through several components including community concerts in Chicago, in-school
concerts for Chicago Public Schools students, and our award-winning Music Pathways in-school residency program, which provides tailored support for music teachers. Through these components, CYSO Community Engagement Programs inspire and
cultivate personal excellence by supporting instrumental music training and music
access among thousands of Chicago youth.
100% of CYSO graduates pursue college studies, often at the most prestigious
universities and conservatories in the nation. Students go on to become professional
musicians in the world’s finest orchestras and music ensembles, and are also found
working as teachers, community leaders, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and business professionals. Most importantly, whether or not students continue their music
studies after high school, they leave with a strong sense of discipline, increased
confidence, and a deep appreciation for music and the arts.
PREPARATORY STRINGS
Preparatory Strings provides string orchestra training to predominantly elementary
school aged student musicians who read music and have at least two years of
playing experience on their instruments. Weekly rehearsals focus on technique,
ensemble performance skills, basic string repertoire, and music theory. The
Preparatory Strings season includes two performances at local venues that have
included Harris Theater and Northwestern University’s Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.
CONDUCTORS
DANIELLA VALDEZ, Director of String Ensembles
Daniella Valdez is the conductor of CYSO’s Preparatory Strings and Accelerando
Strings ensembles. She received her musical training at Texas Tech University
and Northwestern University School of Music, where she received her Bachelor
and Master of Music degrees, respectively. A native of Texas, she began studying violin at the age of ten. She went on to study in intensive string pedagogy
programs with Dr. Cynthia Scully at Texas Tech University and Dr. Jame Kjelland
and Stacia Spencer at Northwestern University.
In 2011, she joined the faculty staff at Maine West High School in Des Plaines, Illinois, as the Director of Orchestras. In this capacity she conducts one full orchestra, two string ensembles and teaches guitar classes. Prior to her appointment at
Maine West High School, she was an orchestra director at Elm Place Middle School in Highland Park, IL.
Her career as a music educator and violinist has led to developing strong and successful orchestra programs. An
accomplished orchestra director, she has led ensembles to receive superior ratings in the Illinois Grade Music Association Organizational Contest and participated as a Lab Orchestra at The Midwest Clinic: An International Band
and Orchestra Conference. Her students are also participants of the Illinois Music Educators Association Honor
Orchestra Festivals and the Illinois Grade School Music Association Solo and Ensemble Festival. During her time in
Texas, her orchestras received excellent ratings in the University Interscholastic League Orchestra Concert and Sight
Reading Contest. Students also participated in the Region X All-Region Middle School Honor Orchestra Contest affiliated with the Texas Music Educators Association. Ms. Valdez is an active judge and clinician for solo and ensemble,
district festivals, and chamber music district festivals. She also is an active member of the National Association for
Music Education and the American String Teacher Association.
Ms. Valdez has performed with several ensembles in Texas and in surrounding areas of Chicago including the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, the Abilene Symphony Orchestra, the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, the University of
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Evanston Symphony Orchestra. Also an accomplished commercial player, she
has performed on stage with Chuck Mangione, Marvin Hamlish, Toni Tennille, and John Pizzarelli.
ANNE MCTIGHE, Overture Strings Conductor, Preparatory Strings Assistant Conductor
Born in Boston, Anne began playing violin at the age of three and joined her
first orchestra in second grade. Later, she joined a youth orchestra program at
The Rivers School Conservatory, eventually serving as concertmistress of the
Rivers Youth Symphony Orchestra. Anne toured Europe twice with American
Music Abroad, where she had the opportunity to play concerts at Schönbrunn
Palace and the Normandy American Cemetery on the Fourth of July. Anne has
collaborated and performed with the Sisai Ensemble, an Andean music group in
the Chicago area. Over the summer, she has studied Baroque bow making with
a faculty member of the North Bennett Street School in Boston.
Anne received a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University’s
Bienen School of Music and was a member of the Northwestern University
Chamber Orchestra and Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra. While at
Northwestern, Anne studied in Vienna and taught music and English in a local
school. Anne introduced her Viennese students to stop-motion animation, using it to explore the connection between
music, stories, and emotions. As a Northwestern student, Anne became a Music Mentor to teens at the Cook County
Juvenile Detention Center, where she taught music composition using GarageBand and conducted research on the
program’s effectiveness for Dr. Maud Hickey.
Anne is currently a Band and Orchestra Director at Highcrest Middle School in Wilmette, IL. In this position, Anne
begins fifth grade students on violin, viola, cello, and bass. She also conducts Beginning Band, Beginning Orchestra,
Hawk Orchestra, and Wire Choir. Anne has worked as an Orchestra Teacher in Northbrook/Glenview and taught at
The People’s Music School and The Rivers School Conservatory Summer Music Program, leading orchestras, coaching chamber groups, and providing private instruction.
Anne joined CYSO in August 2013, working with Director of String Orchestras, Daniella Valdez, as the Preparatory
Strings Assistant Conductor. She was appointed Conductor of Overture Strings when it was established in 2014.
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