The St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra concluded its 2022/2023 season on May 29 with a performance at Powell Hall that included a world premiere, the first performances of a symphony in Powell Hall, and a beloved classical favorite.
Stephanie Childress, in her first full season as Music Director of the YO, led Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in the second half of the concert, known for its brassy fanfare opening that sets an electric atmosphere for the rest of the symphony.
In the first half, she led the first full performances of William Grant Still's Symphony No. 3, "Sunday Symphony," in Powell Hall. The work depicts a typical Sunday in the South.
For the first piece of the program, Childress turned over the podium to Leonard Slatkin, SLSO Conductor Laureate and founder of the YO, for the world premiere of Bachanalia, a piece written by Slatkin himself. The work celebrates the 50th anniversary of the YO (it was originally supposed to be performed in 2020) and hearkens back to the first piece rehearsed by the YO with Slatkin as its director. The Bach-inspired piece calls for members of the orchestra to play their favorite Bach work.
The YO returns to Powell Hall on Sunday, November 13, 2022.
See more photos from the YO's performance below.
Photography by Dilip Vishwanat.
