
Great Music and Seniors Honored
Six seniors will graduate from the LaGrange Symphony Youth Orchestra this year! (More on that later in this post.)
Around the World
This past Monday, the LaGrange Symphony Youth Orchestra (LSYO) and the String Ensemble gave their Spring concert “Around the World”. What a great event! The repertoire and the delivery were terrific. Many commented on how adept these students were. If you recall, the LSYO performed with the professional LaGrange Symphony Orchestra (LSO) on March 19th at the INSPIRE concert. [ You can read more about that concert HERE. ] There will be a video snippet from this Side-By-Side performance of The Code coming out soon! Watch for it!
At this “Around the World” concert, these young musicians had great tone, blend, and dynamics. The quality was quite remarkable for both the String Ensemble and the LSYO.




Guest Artists
There was an added bonus to the concert. One piece, Las Mariposas Exoticas (Exotic Butterflies) incorporated the Troup County School System (TCSS) High School Honors Orchestra. The resulting performance from the combined students was delicate and light. An appropriate depiction in sound for this piece! The expressive capabilities of all the students was impressive.

Here is the program order identifying which groups were playing
Belvedere Suite* by Merle J. Isaac – String Ensemble
Allegro from Symphony No. 17 by W.A. Mozart/ Arr. Campbell – String Ensemble
Four Royal Dances* by Eric Ewazen – LSYO
Las Mariposas Exoticas (Exotic Butterflies) by Doug Spata – LSYO with members of the TCSS High School Honors Orchestra
Little Russian March from Symphony No. 2 in C minor by P.I. Tschaikovsky/ Arr. Longfield – LSYO
Olympiad by Paul Whear – LSYO
The Code by Alan Lee Silva – LSYO
Theme from Jurassic Park by John Williams/ Arr. Higgins – combined String Ensemble and LSYO
Cotton Eyed Joe Folk Tune/ Arr. Duncan – combined String Ensemble and LSYO
* Multiple Movement Works
The Directors
The Director of the LaGrange Symphony Youth Orchestra is Michael Giel.
The Director of the String Ensemble is Sam Lee.
Recognitions
Between sections some students were recognized. String Ensemble Director, Sam Lee, recognized his assistants, Ashlyn Endicott and Alyssa Endicott.






























Here is a slideshow of a lot more musician photos.

During the LSYO section, Michael Giel, Director of the LSYO recognized the 2024 seniors of the group. This year there were six seniors! Ashlyn Endicott, Caleb Hwang, Alisa Lee, Wesley Minicozzi, Jade Murray, and Max Zachry. Congratulations to the LaGrange Symphony Youth Orchestra Seniors! Thank you for such great memories.
The final bow
This was a great concert, and sad to think that this was last LSYO concert of the season. The audience gave them a well-deserved standing ovation. We look forward to next season and hearing more from the LSYO and String Ensemble!

© LaGrange Symphony Orchestra 2023/2024 | All rights reserved | 706.882.0662 | Richard Prior, Music Director & Conductor