Illinois Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra

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La Salle, IL
Illinois Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra

The only orchestral education program for young people in the Illinois Valley since 1987. Pecherek retired after 20 years of dedicated service.

The last 25 years (1987-2012) has seen tremendous growth in the breadth and scope of the concert programs offered by the Youth Symphony. The orchestra has received critical acclaim through string consortiums at the University of Illinois and joint programs with the Rockford Youth Symphony, McHenry Area Youth Symphony, and our own Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra. Musical selections for programs

have ranged from major orchestral works to Broadway scores. Included have been such selections as Jurassic Park by Williams, Medley for Orchestra by Duke Ellington, American Salute by Gould, The Barber of Seville by Rossini, The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, Finlandia by Jean Sibelius, Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky, West Side Story by Bernstein, selections from Les Miserables by Schonberg, Sabre Dance by Khachaturian, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major by Johann Sebastian Bach, and Emperor Waltz Opus, 437 by Johann Strauss. The inaugural 1987-1988 concert programs were no less challenging with works by Aaron Copland, Jean Sibelius, Ludwig von Beethoven, Igor Stravinsky, Antonio Vivaldi, and Georges Bizet. Michael Hining served as music director and conductor for the period 1987 to 1992. In 1992, co- conductors John Armstrong and Michael Pecherek guided the orchestra through 2012 when Mr. Starting fall of 2012, Mr. David Lee will be joining John Armstrong as co-conductor of the IVYSO. Lynn Oliverius Credi was instrumental in handling the business of the Youth Symphony from 1987 to 1988. From 1988 to 2009 Carol McConaghie administered the orchestra before handing the business management to Emily Sobacki who held the position for two years. Since 2011 Delle Peterson has managed the IVYSO. Various guest soloists have performed with the symphony. Some examples are Cecelia Kafer of DeKalb, Brenda Jerrard of Malta, Melody Turner of Oak Park, Ron Modell of DeKalb, Carolyn Lukancic of Ann Arbor, Barbara Kinzer of Ottawa., Susan Gillio of Oglesby, Cindi Isenhower of Ottawa, Dr. Charlotte Williams Miur of Naperville, Maureen Christine of Crystal Lake, Deb Shofner of Sycamore, Kirk Lundbeck of Sycamore, Delle Peterson of Compton, IL and Katherine Roy of Ottawa. Since 1990, the Youth Symphony has conducted its own concerto competition. Student winners who have performed in the spring concerts included Carolyn Lukancic, Peter Kim, Susan Shane, Tom Foster, Caroline Tonozzi, Renee Thouvenin, Arthur Trebs, Angela Tonozzi, Anna Walsh, Sarah Evans, Emily Morgan, Maggie Olson, Jerry Beck, Nicholas Tonozzi, Emily Etheridge, Rachel Bailey, Emily Blackford, Jennifer Hays, Audra Loveland, Catherine Wilcoxson, Bethany Cutler, Kailee McGillis, and Jeremy Stevens.

06/05/2026

excellent tip:

05/21/2026

Young string players, join us!

05/16/2026

We have 20 registrants for our Intro to Violin Camp, and with that, our roster for this camp* is full!

BUT: we run a year-long version of the camp called Prelude String Orchestra, that starts with a review of what Intro to Violin Camp covers and from there builds to getting your student fully performance-ready in a year. Whether you made the cutoff for Intro to Violin Camp this year or not, we invite you to circle back in September to learn more about Prelude! Link: ivyouthsymphony.org/prelude

*registration is OPEN for our camps for young string players with 1+ years experience: Orchestra I and Orchestra II. Info at https://www.ivyouthsymphony.org/summercamps

05/06/2026

Saturday @ 4:30!! Flowers from The Flower Bar will be available for sale before the concert for you to gift your player. Tickets are $10 at the door (kids 5 and under free). See you there!

04/27/2026

Thanks to generous local sponsors, we're delighted to offer our no-experience-required summer intro to violin camp TUITION-FREE! We are accepting up to 15 young people for this week-long day camp in Ottawa, IL. Join us for this low-commitment opportunity for your student to explore strings! 🎻

Apply here ASAP to claim your spot: ivyouthsymphony.org/violin

📍 Bethel Lutheran Brethren Church in Ottawa IL
🗓️ July 13-17
⏰ 8:45a–10:15a
💵 Tuition-free ($25 instrument rental required)

04/23/2026

Interesting opportunity for young people interested in exploring work in the arts:

Festival 56 will offer up to three youth ages 14-22 the opportunity to work as paid apprentices with the resident professional company with various aspects of theatre production. This program is made possible through federal funds and sponsored by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agen...

04/22/2026

The IVYSO is pleased to be bringing a small instrument petting zoo to this event on Thursday next week! Come out with your music-interested kiddos and see what’s up! 🎻🩵💚

03/10/2026

The IVYSO cancelled its rehearsals this evening out of an abundance of caution with the weather being unknown. An hour later, we heard officially from LPHS that they are closing this evening, confirming that decision. While we will miss making music together, we look forward to seeing you next week!

02/23/2026

We still have a ways to go for our practice-a-thon fundraiser! With four days left, can you help us bridge the gap? 50 donations of $40 or more gets us there!

https://app.99pledges.com/fund/ivyso2026p?home_v2=true

12/05/2025

Our winter concert is coming up and we are grateful for the support of these businesses who make our concerts possible!

Address

La Salle, IL
61301

Website

http://ivyouthsymphony.org/

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