EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestra (EPSYO) will close its 19th season next week.

EPSYO will give a season-ending performance at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 17 at the Plaza Theatre.

The concert will showcase all four EPSYO performing ensembles, under the direction of conductors Nathan Black, Jose Rios, Rodrigo Maldonado, and Shannon Clark.

The concerts will open with a performance by students from the Tocando Music Project, who will perform “Besame Mucho” and “This Land Is Your Land.” Tocando is a free after-school program of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra that provides music learning and performing opportunities to elementary through high-school students in El Paso’s El Segundo Barrio.

The El Paso Youth String Philharmonic (YSP) is a strings-only ensemble designed for musicians with limited orchestral experience. Under the direction of Rodrigo Maldonado, the ensemble will perform two pieces by contemporary composers: “The Russian Music Box” by Soon Hee Newbold and “Burst!” by Brian Balmages.

The El Paso Youth String Ensemble (YSE), led by Shannon Clark, will perform “Entrance of the Queen of Sheba” by G.F. Handel, arranged by H.B. Fisher, and “The Black Knight” by Ian Edlund.

Conductor Jose Rios will lead the El Paso Youth Symphony (YS) to close out the first half of the program with Dvořák’s “New World Symphony.”

The second half of the program will feature EPSYO’s advanced orchestra, the El Paso Youth Orchestra (YO), conducted by Nathan Black, in William Grant Still’s “Symphony No. 1 (Afro-American).”

Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at epso.org or by calling the EPSO office (915) 532-3776. Prices are $23 and $13 for children ages 4-12, plus fees. Tickets will also be available at the door on the day of the performance.

The El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestra (EPSYO) is a program of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra that involves over 300 young musicians from the greater El Paso region.  For 19 consecutive years, 100% of high school seniors in EPSYO have gone on to attend universities across the nation. Learn more by clicking here.

The El Paso Symphony Orchestra is presented with the support of the Museums and Cultural Affairs, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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