PYSO Wind Orchestra and Symphonic Winds are back for the 2022-23 season! This ensemble combines our talented high school and junior high students from schools across the Valley into a symphonic wind ensemble. Weekly rehearsals are led by the Wind Orchestra conductor. Sectionals and chair auditions are held once per concert cycle, and are led by professional musicians from the Phoenix Symphony, college music professors, and local secondary music educators. Season plans also include a weekend retreat. As part of the ‘stair-step’ process of PYSO, the Wind Orchestra and Symphonic Winds are intended for students as they progress through their musical, instrumental and ensemble skills. It is the intent of the program for older students to progress into Philharmonic or Symphony Orchestra.
Wind Orchestra and Symphonic Winds have been combined for the 2022-2023 Season.
High School and Middle School
$685
Wednesdays, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
North High School
1101 E Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ 85014
Performs literature from levels 2-4. Music includes works by composers such as: Balmages, Grainger, Hazo, Smith, Sparke, Ticheli, Van de Roost.
Unaccompanied Solo of your choice. Please perform a total of 3:00 minutes of music from the work. Include both fast and slow passages and show advanced techniques. Please bring three copies of your notated music for the solo to your audition.
2 major scales of the student’s choice – 1 tongued and 1 slurred*
Full range chromatic scale – slurred**
*Harder scales will receive a higher score than easier ones. However, a well-played scale, no matter the difficulty, is best.
**You may perform as many octaves as you are able on both the scales and the chromatic. A greater range will receive a higher difficulty score. However, a well-played scale, no matter the difficulty, is best.
Sight reading material will consist of one or two short selections, selected by the adjudicators. Don’t neglect practicing sight reading pieces you are unfamiliar with to help prepare for this part of the audition.
Best of luck in your preparation, always start slow and work with a metronome!!
View our stars in concert!
Music Memory is on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at The Orpheum Theatre. This event an education concert for students in grades 1-5 from all over the valley. Visit our Music Memory section for more information.
The Teacher's Appreciation Concert will be on Sunday, February 23, 2025 at 3:30 PM at the Mesa Community College Performing Arts Center.
The PYSO Symphony Orchestra participates in a Side by Side Concert with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra on Thursday, March 13, 2025 at 7:00 PM at the Phoenix Symphony Hall.
The PYSO Season Finale All-Ensembles Concert features all PYSO ensembles and will be on Sunday, April 27, 2025 (Times TBD). Located at the Orpheum Theatre Phoenix.
This performance is presented by The School of Ballet Arizona and the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestras on May 31 - June 1 at the Orpheum Theatre.
Dr. Stephen Meyer
Conductor, Wind Orchestra
Dr. Stephen Meyer is currently the director of bands and assistant professor of music at Northern Arizona University. He previously served on the faculties of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and the University of South Carolina. As director of bands at Clear Creek High School, the Clear Creek Wind Ensemble was a featured performer at the 2013 Midwest Clinic, was a three-time National Winner in the National Wind Band Honors project, and a two-time national finalist for American Prize in Wind Ensemble Performance.
Prior to Clear Creek, Dr. Meyer taught at Harrison High School in Cobb County, Georgia, where he assisted with performances at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, the Georgia Music Educators Association, and the University of Georgia. As co-director of the marching band, the ensemble was a consistent Bands of America Regional and Super-Regional Finalist, a Bands of America Grand National Finalist in 2007, and a featured ensemble in the 2009 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Dr. Meyer graduated magna cum laude from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with a bachelor of music education degree and earned both a master’s and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. He is the author of Rehearsing the High School Band, Rehearsing the Middle School Band, and Rehearsing the Marching Band.