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Achievements A return to music

Youth orchestra celebrates the spirit of the season with in-person performance

SCHENECTADY — The Empire State Youth Orchestra, known regionally and nationally as a premiere performance institution for young musicians living in Upstate New York and Western New England, will be ringing in the holiday season Sunday, Dec. 19, at 3 p.m. with a Holiday Spectacular featuring a mix of sparkling holiday music, Christmas carols, and inspired Symphonic classics filled with good cheer and fun for the whole family.

The concert, which takes place at Proctors in Schenectady, will feature ESYO Symphony Orchestra & Concert Chorale, along with the ESYO Youth Jazz Orchestra. Find out more online at esyo.org.

The return to in-person regular rehearsals and live audience performances marks a milestone in ESYO’s efforts to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an emergence underscored by the hiring of David Bebe as ESYO’s first-ever Director of Education and a renewed sense of commitment to education, enrichment, and empowerment for members of ESYO performing ensembles and CHIME. The CHIME Program is ESYO’s music access program that provides free daily music instruction and ensemble education to students in Schenectady, Albany and Troy school districts.

“We’ve learned a lot about ourselves and our musicians during the pandemic,” said ESYO Executive Director Rebecca Calos. “We allowed ourselves to be flexible. We embraced innovation and made strategic investments in our educational infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing young musicians as we all emerge from the ongoing impact of COVID-19.”

Guiding ESYO’s ventures to

ESYO’s 2021-2022 concert season restores a sense of “normalcy” for concert-goers with live audience performances across the region.

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