Students Chosen for Tompkins Youth Orchestra

“No Longer IN the Audience” Four South Seneca fifth graders (l to r) Peter Trim, Briana McCoy, Julia Hubbard and Tom Smalser recently auditioned for the Tompkins County Youth Orchestra and were accepted to this prestigious area organization. The junior orchestra is made up of students in Tompkins and surrounding counties in grades 5-8 and will be directed by Dr. Craig S. Evans and organized by founder Derek Voigt. The orchestra rehearses once a week throughout the school year and will perform several concerts.

Four young musicians became members of the Tompkins County Youth Orchestra recently. The four South Seneca students, Julia Hubbard, Peter Trim, Briana McCoy and Tom Smalser traveled to Ithaca in May to audition for the honor of being admitted into the Tompkins County Youth Orchestra. Each student was required to perform several scales and a concert piece for a committee of professional musicians. Each of the South Seneca students performed well enough to be accepted into the orchestra and received notification of their acceptance in late June.

The junior orchestra, made up of students in Tompkins and surrounding counties in grades 5-8 will be directed by Dr. Craig S. Evans and organized by founder Derek Voigt. The orchestra will rehearse once a week throughout the school year and will perform several concerts. The students will enjoy instruction from professional musicians from Ithaca College School of Music, Cornell University, Syracuse University, Symphony Syracuse, the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, the Northern Tier Symphony and others who will be working with the students throughout the season.

Rebecca Root Davis, the students’ teacher during the past two years at South Seneca Elementary was very excited about this opportunity. Having been a professional orchestra player for thirty years, she understands the excitement in playing traditional classical music in an orchestra. “Congratulations to our brave, adventurous South Seneca students. They are about to enter a new world of music; one that includes the greatest music ever written and performed!”

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