Golden concert for Surrey Youth Orchestra to celebrate 50 years of music<\/p>\n
Published 7:30 pm Monday, May 4, 2026<\/p>\n
Surrey Youth Orchestra celebrates its golden anniversary with a 50th-season concert this Saturday (May 9) at Chandos Pattison Auditorium.<\/p>\n
The milestone night brings the SYO\u2019s five ensembles to the 1,500-seat theatre in Fraser Heights (at Pacific Academy), from the youngest string players to the accomplished senior orchestra, promising symphonic works and heartfelt celebration.<\/p>\n
Surrey Youth Orchestra was founded in 1976 by Lucille Lewis, who retired in <\/a>2011<\/a> and returned in 2016 to conduct a 40th-anniversary concert.<\/p>\n She\u2019ll return for Saturday\u2019s 50th-anniversary celebration, too, and remains a board member of SYO.<\/p>\n \u201cAll five (ensembles) will be playing a movement from Beethoven\u2019s Ninth Symphony as the big finale,\u201d Lewis noted. \u201cDuring a rehearsal saw, it was giving me goosebumps listening to it. I was standing there with our administrator Ruth (Sun), and I was saying to her, \u2018This is fabulous. It\u2019s just overwhelming.\u2019 It struck me, just listening to them, how far we\u2019ve come. Compare it to when we first started, it\u2019s just grown and grown, and the musicians are fantastic. It\u2019s touching that we have affected all those thousands of kids along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n SYO started with just 17 young musicians, who now number close to 230 of the best and brightest from around Metro Vancouver.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the musicians have gone on to play professionally or teach music, and do other things, of course,\u201d said Sue Anderlini, longtime SYO president. \u201cMy daughter, she was an oboe player. She went into science and chemistry and now she goes up to the Arctic and does research. She just got her PhD from the University Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n SYO alumni are welcomed back for the 50th-season concert\/celebration, details on surreyyouthorchestra.com<\/a>. Tickets are sold for $20\/$30 on showpass.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n In February the youth orchestra hosted an open house and preview concert at Surrey Christian Secondary School, where rehearsals are held from September to May. Young musicians audition for orchestra placement and Saturday rehearsals led by Andrea Taylor (Junior orchestras), Will Chen (Intermediate Orchestra) and Joel Stobbe (Senior Orchestra)<\/p>\n