Putting their talents to youth

Six Oregon high school string orchestras will descend upon Newport for the Oregon Coast Youth Symphony Festival this Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23.

The festival will take place at the Newport Performing Arts Center and Newport Middle School. Offering three days of live community youth symphony concerts, creative workshops and clinics designed to instill a drive for excellence and inspire Oregon classical music students to be musicians for a lifetime.

Oregon high school orchestras join special guest Willamette University Chamber Orchestra of Salem, and high schools attending include Tualatin, Newberg, Mountain View, North Medford, Ashland and Brookings-Harbor.

The opening concert at the PAC will feature the Brookings-Harbor, North Medford and Mountain View high school orchestras, followed by the Willamette University Chamber Orchestra.

The scene shifts to the Newport Middle School gymnasium on Saturday night with performances by the Ashland, Tualatin and Newberg high school orchestras. The grand finale will feature all six orchestras coming together in a mass performance featuring the music of Michael Senturia and composer Soon Hee Newbold.

Music directors and workshop leaders are Dr. Mark Laycock, director of orchestra and music at Wichita State University and Cynthia Woods, music director of the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra of Cambridge, Massachusetts and faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music.

All concerts are free, though donations are accepted. Both performances start at 7 pm. The Newport Performing Arts Center is located at 777 West Olive Street. Newport Middle School is located at 825 NE 7th Street. For more information go to youthsymphonyfestival.org.