The St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra (SLSYO) is an American orchestra for musicians between the ages of 12 and 22, and is the young people's version of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO). The SLSYO performs three concerts a year at

Powell Symphony Hall Powell Hall (formerly known as the St. Louis Theater and Powell Symphony Hall) is the home of the St. Louis Symphony. It was named after Walter S. Powell, a local St. Louis businessman, whose widow donated $1 million towards the purchase and us ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. The orchestra was founded in 1970 by

Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...

when he was assistant conductor of the SLSO. The assistant conductor (now called Resident Conductor) of the SLSO acts as the music director of the SLSYO. The current Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony is Stephanie Childress. Past SLSYO music directors have included Gerhardt Zimmermann,

Ward Stare Ward Stare (Born August 27, 1982) is an American conductor. Stare was the Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 2014 until 2021 and was also the Resident Conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2012.� ...

, Steven Jarvi
Kirk MusprattDavid Loebel
and Scott Parkman. Several of the SLSYO's past members have joined the SLSO in future years, including Mark Sparks (flute), Felicia Foland (bassoon), Rebecca Boyer Hall and Kristin Ahlstrom (violin), Erin Schreiber (violin) and Sarah Hogan Kaiser (double bass). In 2020, the SLSYO will celebrate its 50th anniversary.

References

External links

Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra website
{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra American youth orchestras Musical groups from St. Louis 1970 establishments in Missouri Musical groups established in 1970 Youth organizations based in Missouri Performing arts in Missouri