Most people, when they think of high school, don’t think of band, but band is a huge part of many high school kids’ lives. The band is at every home football and basketball game, as well as every assembly. Two Blue Valley Southwest students, however, senior Kelsey Sanders and sophomore Grant Laster take band a step further by participating in a community orchestra.
Sanders and Laster are part of the Kansas City Youth Symphony. The Youth Symphony is a prestigious, audition-only orchestra made up of musicians from around the metro area. It has five orchestras with members ranging from 4th grade to age 21. Sanders and Laster are in the top orchestra, called Symphony Orchestra.
The musicians in this orchestra practice for three hours every Sunday afternoon from 1:30-4:30 and perform at various concerts throughout the year. Their first concert of the season was at the opening weekend of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Broadway, Kansas City, Missouri.
“[It was] awesome,” Symphony Orchestra conductor Steven D. Davis said. “Just think about being in [a place like] Carnegie Hall opening weekend. It’s a phenomenal story.”
The Symphony Orchestra received the honor of being the second group to ever perform on the stage. They were also the first public performance during the grand opening of the Kauffman Center. The auditorium was filled beyond capacity; there were at least 100 people standing.
“It was kind of nerve-wracking on the stage because it was completely packed,” Sanders said. “We felt really unprepared because we only had three rehearsals prior to it.”
The Symphony Orchestra plays very difficult music that takes a lot of time to perfect.
“The top orchestra is professional level music,” Davis said.
Davis also conducts an orchestra at the University of Missouri at Kansas City and rehearses the Symphony Orchestra the same as he does his college students.
“The process is the same,” Davis said. “The only difference is the difficulty of the music.”
The Kansas City Youth Symphony differs from other organizations because it draws kids from both Kansas and Missouri.
“They’re some of the best kids in the metro area,” Davis said. “The best and brightest kids in both states.”
