GCYO In The News

Greenville County Youth Orchestra performed its annual Shoulder-to-Shoulder concert at the Peace Center's Dorothy Gunter Theater on Thursday, January 4th. Shoulder-to-Shoulder is a project undertaken with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in which GSO musicians serve as mentors and teachers of GCYO members. Ultimately, they share the stage together in performance, in which selections included Serge Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Dmitri Shostakovich's Cello Conceto No.1 and Steven Balakrishnan's Skylife. Cellist Seth Russell (Fine Arts Center, home school) was featured in the Shostakovich. Furman University graduate Carolyn Carrier (currently pursuing a Masters of Piano Performance at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro) was the featured Guest Artist on Rhapsody in Blue.

The Shoulder-to-Shoulder performance also featured a special tribute to the career of veteran cellist and cello teacher Martha Brons. Brons, who was recently nominated for the Elizabeth Verner Award (South Carolina's highest honor given in the arts), is the teacher of GCYO cellist and soloist Seth Russell, as well as many cellists throughout the history of Greenville County Youth Orchestra. (Ms. Brons is pictured with her students and GCYO cellists Meredyth Bowden and Seth.)

GCYO repeated performances of Serge Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite and George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in their annual Winter Orchestras Concert, which was staged for the first time in the Wade Hampton High School Auditorium on Tuesday, January 30. The concert also featured performances by two of the three other orchestras in the School District's orchestral program, Sinfonia (conducted by Anne Matthews) and The Philharmonic (conducted by Kathleen Robinson). Music Director and Conductor and FAC music faculty member Gary A. Robinson directed GCYO in their performances.