Will you support MYSO’s Matching Gift Campaign?        

The year 2020, like many, has been marked as ‘a year of change’ for the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra. While this past season marked a phenomenal 60^th Anniversary Milestone for MYSO, it also brought upon a cancelled 60^th Anniversary Reunion Concert, the retirement of legendary Maestro Sisk after nearly 30 years, and the overall halt of a momentous 2019-2020 season due to COVID-19. These challenges are best stated by Dr. Sisk:

A Letter from Maestro Sisk

Hello, again. I’m Larry Sisk, and I served as MYSO Music Director for 29 years. I recently retired from conducting, but I haven’t forgotten MYSO. Like you, I am thinking about the future of youth orchestras.

We are fortunate to have a dedicated Board of Directors and an exceptional Executive Director in Audra Sybert. The search for a new Music Director has brought us a talented, experienced orchestra conductor who will, I am sure, provide the musical leadership MYSO needs to thrive. Maestro Firer has all the skills you have come to expect from a professional conductor. I ask that you will be as supportive of him as you have been of me.

MYSO will need your financial support to continue to serve our young musicians, especially during these insecure times when ensemble music is threatened by the pandemic. All arts organizations are at risk now. Perhaps you are asking yourself why you should invest in an organization facing such challenges. But this is exactly when MYSO needs you most. Even if rehearsals and concerts temporarily have to be adjusted to the pandemic protocols, the orchestra has ongoing expenses that have to be met, not the least of which is maintaining a professional staff.

When these hard times are past, you and your children will need MYSO to be there for you. Music can’t cure COVID, but it can heal the human spirit.                                                 -Lawrence Sisk

The MYSO Board of Directors are confident in a strong future and have pledged a matching gift amount of up to $1,200 to the orchestra.  Our Board will match each dollar contributed by our patrons during this time of need, up to this amount. MYSO has been adapting to change remarkable with the appointment of Dr. Benjamin Firer as Conductor and the formation of a Fall Strings Ensemble to keep music alive and in-person safely. But now we need you! With your help, our orchestra can continue to survive – and thrive – for years to come.