To accommodate social distancing, the students of the Santa Clarita Youth Orchestra (SCVYO) have continued to meet virtually every week during regular rehearsal times, and the Artistic Staff of SCVYO have made sure that the quality of education has not diminished.

SCVYO’s Executive Director Xaman Kryger reached out stating that “in light of COVID-19, SCVYO has done a superb job transitioning to online education for all of our students without skipping a beat. Within just 2 weeks of when the quarantine first took effect, the Artistic Staff pulled together to create a full online curriculum, recognizing this unusual situation as an opportunity to examine our musical study through new and innovative lenses.”

Recently, SCVYO has taken advantage of their new online learning system by implementing a 7-week long “Virtual Guest Artist Series,” where every week professional music guests from around the world joined their rehearsals and worked with the students over Zoom. During normal circumstances, the students would not have had the opportunity to speak with so many experienced musicians in such a short amount of time. Online learning has opened many doors, including the chance for students to learn more about the recording process and the subtle differences in playing technique for live vs. recorded playing.

As a capstone to the new online curriculum, all ensemble and staff members have participated in a massive video-project to produce a virtual performance of the final movement of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. The premiere of the video will be released Saturday, June 6, alongside additional video performances from SCVYO’s Guitar Orchestra, Chamber Music Program and Prelude Winds and Brass. All video performances will be available on YouTube starting at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, June 6. For easy access to our YouTube videos, please visit www.scvyo.org.

While SCVYO is proud to present a capstone virtual performance for students and families, they are currently facing lost revenue from the lack of ticket sales and concessions following the necessary cancellation of their scheduled performances. Last year, SCVYO was awarded a generous 2-year matching grant from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. It is imperative for them that they match the amount in donations in order to continue many of their programs; to help their young musicians, SCVYO is currently accepting donations at scvyo.org/donate-today-keep the-music-alive.

Santa Clarita Valley Youth Orchestra (SCVYO) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that has served the Santa Clarita Valley community and surrounding areas for over 35 years, providing a variety of enriching instrumental education and performance programs for students eight years and older. To learn more about the SCVYO, please visit their website at www.scvyo.org. For more information about their programs please contact the Executive Director at info@scvyo.org.