WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Winston-Salem Symphony’s Youth Orchestras Program will hold its final concerts of the 2016–2017 Season in May. The Premiere Strings, led by Fabrice Dharamraj, and Youth Philharmonic Orchestras, led by Margaret Rehder, will perform on Sunday, May 7 at 7 p.m. in Brendle Recital Hall on the campus of Wake Forest University. The Winston-Salem Youth Symphony, under the baton of Maestra Jessica Morel, will perform on Sunday, May 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Stevens Center of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, 405 West Fourth Street in downtown Winston-Salem. Both concerts are free and open to the public.

“We hope you will join us for these concerts. The student musicians in all three ensembles are an inspiring group of musicians,” said Morel. “Their hard work and talent is impressive and I know you will enjoy hearing them play. These youth orchestra concerts are a chance to hear high caliber musicians who are the stars of tomorrow.”

At the May 21 concert, the Winston-Salem Youth Symphony will perform La Péri Fanfare by Paul Dukas, Concertino for Flute and Orchestra by Cécile Chaminade (featuring Winston-Salem Youth Symphony Concerto Competition winner Melissa Rogers on flute), and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.

Melissa Rogers is an 11th grade homeschool student in Classical Conversations, who has studied flute for six years, with Carla Copeland-Burns. In December of 2016, she competed in the University of North Carolina School of the Arts solo competition and won first place for her performance of the Chaminade. During the fall of 2015, Rogers won first place in her division as part of the Raleigh Area Flute Association. Rogers currently holds first chair in the Winston-Salem Youth Orchestra and has been a member of the Youth Orchestra for two years. She began her orchestra career as a member of the Winston-Salem Youth Philharmonic during the 2014–2015 season. In addition to orchestra, Rogers participated in the North Carolina Band Festival in 9th and 10th grade, as fifth chair and first chair flute, respectively. As a beginning flute student, she performed in solo and ensemble competitions, earning superior ratings, along with participating in the North Carolina Central District Band as 5th chair in 2012, which earned her a spot in the North Carolina State band as 9th chair.

The Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestras program will be holding auditions for the 2017-2018 season on June 2 and June 3 at R. J. Reynolds High School at 301 N. Hawthorne Road, in Winston-Salem. For more information, please visit www.wssyo.org/audition.

About the Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestras

The Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestras is part of the Winston-Salem Symphony and includes about 130 student musicians. The Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestras are currently comprised of two full orchestras and a string orchestra for aspiring musicians in the first through twelfth grades: the Premiere Strings, led by Fabrice Dharamraj, is a strings ensemble for young musicians; the Youth Philharmonic, led by Margaret Rehder, is a full orchestra for intermediate level students; and the Youth Symphony, led by Jessica Morel, is a full orchestra for advanced students. Both full orchestras consist of 50 to 75 members and perform several public concerts annually as well as occasional concerts for special audiences. For more information, visit wssyo.org.

About the Winston-Salem Symphony

The Winston-Salem Symphony, one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded regional orchestras, began its 70^th anniversary performance season in September 2016. Under the baton of Music Director Robert Moody, the season includes a special 70^th anniversary opening gala concert, Classics and Kicked-Back Classics series, Plugged-In Pops series, Discovery Concerts for Kids, annual performances of Handel’s Messiah, a concert featuring Winston-Salem Symphony and Youth Symphony musicians, holiday concerts, three youth orchestra ensembles, and a multitude of educational and community engagement programs. The Symphony is supported by Season Presenting Sponsors BB&T and Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A., as well as generous funding from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, the North Carolina Arts Council, and other dedicated sponsors. For more information, visit WSsymphony.org.