Posted October 13, 2011

Helen Cha-Pyo (left), conductor of the Empire State Youth Orchestra, with Brian Austin (SHS) as Harry Potter.

On Wednesday, October 12th, North Colonie’s fourth grade students attended the Empire State Youth Orchestra’s Young People’s Concert, at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady.

The children studied the music of Tchaikovsky, Bartok and Liszt in their elementary music classes, with lessons designed especially for the performance by North Colonie music teachers Karen Amedio (Shaker High School), Brook Greco (Blue Creek) and Amy Kimbler (Loudonville).

The fourth graders heard the orchestra perform excerpts from the work of these composers, and were treated to an amazing performance on violin by the ESYO Concerto competition winner. The program included narration by Liz Bishop from CBS 6 News, and featured a Harry Potter theme, including musical “clues” for the students to listen for. There was an appearance by the sorcerer himself – Harry Potter – played by Brian Austin, Shaker High School orchestra director.

In the end, one of the Latham Ridge students found a magic wand under her chair, and when she waved it in front of the orchestra, they found the Golden Snitch.

The Empire State Youth Orchestras (ESYO) was founded in 1979. Back then, it was one orchestra with 81 players. Today, ESYO consists of several performing groups: the Youth Orchestra, Repertory
Orchestra, Wind Orchestra, String Ensemble, two Jazz Ensembles and three Percussion Ensembles. The musicians of ESYO range in age from 9 – 18, and all players must pass a competitive audition to become a member of an ESYO group.