VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Ivy Real Estate Group presents: The Symphony Orchestra of the Fargo Moorhead Area Youth Symphonies (FMAYS) who will be performing on Sunday, November 12, 3:00 pm in the
Center for the Arts on the campus of Valley City State University. This concert is made possible by major sponsor Ivy Real Estate Group of Valley City. Additional sponsorship from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, Sodexo, Valley City State University Music Department made this event possible. The event is free and open to the public (free-will offering will be taken). This is the second year that the FMAYS group has traveled to Valley City. You will not be disappointed by this concert!
Under the baton of conductor Brad Lambrecht, the nearly 70- member orchestra is comprised of string, wind and percussion students grades 9-12 from Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo and the surrounding areas. Students must audition for membership and attend a weekly rehearsal on Sunday afternoons at North Dakota State University.
The Fargo Moorhead Area Youth Symphony, as it was originally named, was founded in 1967 by Loris Tjknavorian, a composer and conductor at Moorhead State University (now Minnesota State University Moorhead). FMAYS was organized to give musically talented senior and junior high school students from the Fargo Moorhead area an opportunity to expand their musical experiences.
In the mid-1970s, Dewey Possehl, Eunice Pitmon, Jack Harris, and Bruce Houglum reorganized FMAYS. They designed the organization as an addition to middle and high school music education programs in the community. They stressed that players were expected to participate in and retain allegiance to their school instrumental music programs.
In 1993, FMAYS divided into the Junior High Concert Strings for students in grades 6-8, and the Senior High Symphony Orchestra for students grades 9-12. In 2017, Attacca Strings was created as a string orchestra for grades 9-12.
The November 12, program will feature Aaron Copland: Rodeo Suite with selections (I) Buckaroo Holiday (II) Corral Nocturne (III) Saturday Night Waltz (IV) Hoedown as well as selections from Jocelyn Hagen, arr. Wren:Sofdu Unga Astin Min (a chamber ensemble), and Ilari Hylkila:Saga.
The Bridges Arts Council is a nonprofit group that serves to bring arts and cultural opportunities to the Valley City and Barnes County community. If you are interested in learning more about the Bridges Arts Council you can visit, https://www.bridgesarts.org/ or on Facebook.