Skip to main content

Time:

Friday
December, 16, 2016
01:30 PM - 02:30 PM

Location:

Skyline Ballroom W375E

Category

YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Conductor

Allen Tinkham

Performer Details

Performer Bio Synopsis

Internationally recognized as one of the foremost youth orchestras, CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra is comprised of the most talented and dedicated student musicians. Under the direction of Music Director Allen Tinkham, Symphony Orchestra students have the opportunity to hone their skills while performing the most advanced orchestral repertoire alongside exciting new works by contemporary composers. Symphony Orchestra’s annual seasons feature collaborations with leading cultural institutions, a concerto competition, and performances at Symphony Center’s Orchestra Hall and Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavillion. Since its first season in 1946, CYSO’s Symphony Orchestra has achieved international recognition for its excellence and innovation in orchestral performance. The orchestra is known as an important training ground for the cultivation of the next generation of professional musicians. In fact, you can hear our alumni playing in more than 40 orchestras around the world including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Presidents Own, Cleveland Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, among many others. See some of CYSO’s notable alumni. The Symphony Orchestra is a leader in the performance of contemporary orchestral music among youth. Among its honors are eleven ASCAP awards for adventurous programming; three Illinois Council of Orchestras Youth Orchestra of the Year awards; two Illinois Council of Orchestras Programming of the Year awards; broadcasts on National Public Radio and WFMT; and international tours to the music capitals of Central and Western Europe, Asia and South America, and our 2014 tour of China. Read more about Symphony Orchestra touring. In August 2007, members of the Symphony Orchestra performed with the rock band, My Morning Jacket, and became the first ever classical music ensemble to take the stage at Chicago’s legendary rock music festival, Lollapalooza. That performance is listed as one of the top 20 moments in Lollapalooza history. In August 2010, members of the Symphony Orchestra returned to Lollapalooza to perform with Dane Zanes and in August 2011, performed with My Brightest Diamond at Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavillion. In summer 2015, Symphony Orchestra performed both with rock musician Ben Folds at the Chicago Theatre, as well as alongside Blue Man Group at Pritzker Pavillion. See highlights from some these performances.

Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras

Conductor's Bio

Allen Tinkham is increasingly recognized as one of the most gifted conductors and teachers of his generation. He is hailed by The Chicago Tribune as one of Chicago’s most important “educators, mentors and inspirational guides in the training of tomorrow’s orchestral professionals,” working “wonders” in concerts performed at a “professional level.” As Music Director of Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, Tinkham oversees all artistic programming and faculty for the organization. He has led the Symphony Orchestra to critical acclaim on four continents in performances at some of the world’s greatest halls, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Montevideo’s Teatro Solis, and the Concert Hall of National Grand Theater Beijing. Tinkham has won nine ASCAP Awards for the Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music with CYSO, and has premiered many works with CYSO of such composers as Daron Aric Hagen, Gabriel Prokofiev, Augusta Read Thomas, and Marc-Anthony Turnage. A champion of contemporary music, he has also recently been appointed Music Director of the Chicago Composers Orchestra, an ensemble devoted to performing contemporary music with an emphasis on premieres and works by Chicago-area composers. Other recent guest appearances include the Colorado Symphony and the Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is also on faculty at the New York Summer Music Festival and the Columbia College of Chicago, and is in high demand as a guest conductor and teacher, having conducted at All-State festival orchestras and summer festivals across the country. Prior to his appointment in Chicago, Tinkham served as Apprentice Conductor of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, where he mentored under Music Director James DePreist. He also served for many years as a cover conductor at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Tinkham received the Bachelor of Music with Distinction in a Double Major of Theory and Double Bass from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan in Orchestral Conducting. At the University of Michigan, he served as Music Director of both the Campus Symphony and Philharmonia orchestras and received the Helen and Clyde Wu Conducting Fellowship, the youngest conductor to receive these distinctions. He continued his conducting studies for many summers at the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen and at the Conductors Retreat at Medomak. Tinkham’s principal teachers include David Effron, Murry Sidlin, and Kenneth Kiesler. He has also studied with David Zinman and James DePreist.

Additional Directors

Michael Mascari

Dana Green

Back