Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra performing live throughout the valley

After a long 24 months, the Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra (OSYO) will be playing to live audiences again.

Limited to 50 students from around the Okanagan this year, the OSYO says it’s navigating the pandemic to provide a safe environment for live music.

Shows are upcoming in Vernon, Penticton and Kelowna. The Vernon show will take place Nov. 27 at Trinity United Church; the Penticton performance is on Nov. 28 at Cleland Community Theatre; and the Kelowna show, also on Nov. 28, will be hosted by the First Lutheran Church.

“We are so thrilled to be making music once again with our OSYO musicians,” said music director Rosemary Thomson on behalf of co-conductor Dennis Colpitts and herself. “The excitement of our musicians as they prepare music for a live audience again after 24 months is palpable. I know that they will simply shine.”

The OSYO Fall Concert will feature cellist Angela Zeng — a star in the making.

“Her solo performance of the first movement of the Dvorak Cello Concerto is quite simply awe-inspiring and we are delighted to showcase her on this concert,” says Thomson.

The concert will also feature the premiere of ‘Rain at the End of Time,’ a new work by trombonist and Grade 12 student composer Dryden Bennett.

Tickets are available online at www.okanagansymphony.com/tickets/ or at the door.

The OSYO provides young string, wind, brass and percussion players with opportunities in advanced orchestral playing with their peers. Students aged nine through 20 are welcomed from all over the Okanagan.