EYSO faculty concert raises money for scholarships
Lara Nammari, 14, just joined the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra this year. The Bartlett teen plays the cello and usually spends her time proving herself to Daniel Beder — the Sinfonia conductor — instead of watching him play. Sunday it was different.
EYSO faculty and staff members took to the stage for an hourlong recital meant to raise money for the orchestra’s scholarship fund. For students like Nammari, it was a chance to see her teacher onstage.
“I think it was awesome,” Nammari said.
Though the concert itself was free, students collected donations after the performance from concertgoers.
About 13 percent of the more than 300 students who participate in the EYSO get at least a partial scholarship. Kathy Matthews, executive director, said the current economic hardships have made more students need financial aid. As state grants have been reduced, the organization has looked for new ways to fund its programs.
“Our policy at the Elgin Youth Symphony is to make it possible for any student who qualifies musically to play with us, regardless of their financial need,” Matthews said.
The faculty recital was a first for the organization, at least in recent memory. The group got its start in 1976 and serves students from third grade through college across eight counties. Three full orchestras, two string orchestras, a brass choir, a chamber music institute and three honors chamber ensembles form the program.
Sunday’s performance was a mix of solos and group pieces. Andrew Masters, the Prelude Orchestra conductor, performed “Solo Fantasy #2” — his own creation.
Recording his own beats and melody lines and then playing over them onstage gave the solo a full, complicated air, though the only instrument Masters used was a viola.
For Nammari, who started on the viola before switching to cello three years ago, the contemporary performance was her favorite.
The EYSO, an in-residence ensemble at the Elgin Community College Arts Center, is home to five orchestras and a brass choir with more than 300 students from more than 60 communities. It was founded in 1976.