Honor Orchestra

January 27 & 28, 2018 Honor Orchestra

Pacific Lutheran University
Department of Music
PLU Honor Orchestra for Strings

Following the success of another annual event here at PLU, the Northwest Honor Band, we have created a similar opportunity just for string players with the PLU Honor Orchestra for Strings. It is a two-day festival held annually over a weekend in January, offering individual high school string players from throughout the region the opportunity to perform excellent literature for string orchestra with a nationally recognized guest conductor. Please recommend your outstanding student musicians for participation. Each nominating organization is guaranteed participation in the Honor Orchestra for Strings if the nomination form is received by the DEADLINE: November 1.

Fee: There will be a $95.00 NON-REFUNDABLE fee for each student musician participating in the Honor Orchestra for Strings. This fee includes dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday. This fee is due January 15, 2018.

Wes Kenney

The 2007 Grand Prize Winner of the Varna (Bulgaria) International Conducting Competition and now a winner of the Ernst Bacon Memorial Prize for excellence in performance of American Music, Wes Kenney is celebrating his 15^th season as Music Director of the Fort Collins (Colorado) Symphony and Director of Orchestras at Colorado State University. Named in 2004 to an additional post as Music Director of Opera Fort Collins, he currently conducts three professional operatic productions as well as numerous orchestra concerts and dance performances each season throughout Northern Colorado. Wes Kenney is also in his fifth season with Denver Young Artist Orchestra—the premier youth orchestra in the state of Colorado—an orchestra recognized by the city of Denver for outreach as well as recently awarded the Ernst Bacon Memorial Prize for the performance of contemporary music.

Mr. Kenney’s guest conducting activities include the New Hampshire All-State, Acadiana Symphony (LA), New Mexico All-State, Lafayette (IN) Symphony, Alabama All-State Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, Alabama Symphony, New Mexico Symphony, and Richmond Symphony. International guest conducting includes performances with the Vidin State Philharmonic and Stara Zagora Opera Company in Bulgaria as well as the Edinburgh (Scotland) Music Festival. He has also appeared with the Savannah Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Dubuque Symphony. In January he will make his debut with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra in Hanoi.

Mr. Kenney has also enjoyed success directing opera, ballet and musical theater. Previous positions include Music Director of the Virginia Ballet Theater, Co-Principal Conductor of the Oakland Lyric Opera, and Guest Conductor with Universal Ballet Korea. Since 2004 he has conducted productions of Carmen, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Sweeney Todd, Turn of the Screw, Barber of Seville, Madama Butterfly, Cenerentola, Rigoletto, Tosca, Otello, Die Zauberflote, Die Fledermaus, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Street Scene, La Boheme, Pagliacci, Cavelleria Rusticana, Falstaff, Turandot, Marriage of Figaro, The Merry Widow, Aida, Don Giovanni, and Tenderland. In addition he has conducted over one hundred performances of The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Firebird, and many other dance works.

Named Educator of the Year by the Colorado Chapter of the American String Teachers Association in 2008, Mr. Kenney enjoys working with talented young people. Awarded the prestigious Carmen Dragon Conducting Prize in 1992, Wes Kenney is a founder of the CSU Summer Master of Music Education with an emphasis in conducting program, now in its 11^th year.

Audition Requirements:

Seating will be determined by audition on January 27 just before the first rehearsal. The audition material will be chosen from the repertoire for the orchestra.

How to Get Involved:

Acceptance in the PLU Honor Orchestra for Strings:

Nomination by a high school or youth symphony director, evidenced by the nomination form. Click here to make nominations: Director’s Nomination Form

Seating will be determined by audition on January 27 just before the first rehearsal. The audition material will be chosen from the repertoire for the orchestra.

Important Dates:

• November 1: Nominations due
• December 18: Notification of acceptance will be sent to the nominees and their directors.
• January 15: Registration and non-refundable fees are due.
• January 28: Seating auditions – an audition will determine the principal players in each section and seating placement.

General PLU Honor Orchestra for Strings

PARTICIPANT INFORMATION

Important Dates:

November 1: High school directors’ nomination deadline

December 18: Notification of acceptance will be sent to the nominees and their directors.

January 15: Registration and non-refundable fees are due.

January 27: Seating will be determined by audition just before the first rehearsal. The audition material will be chosen from the repertoire for the orchestra.

• General information
• Directions to PLU
• List of hotels near PLU
• Honor Orchestra Schedule
• Honor Orchestra Registration Form

Participant fees: $95 (non-refundable)

Concert CD: $20

Confirmation and Acceptance: Please complete the registration form above, print it, and mail it with your remittance to PLU by January 15. NOTE: To achieve appropriate instrumentation, it is extremely important to notify PLU if a student is not able to attend.