ONTARIO YOUTH STRINGS

Registration for the much anticipated second season of “Ontario Youth Strings” is finally open! We are thrilled to be able to offer this wonderful opportunity to children who have experience playing string instruments already.

In an effort to be proactive regarding registration for next season I am sending this email out before the summer and will resend it at the end of summer. Please feel free to tell other people about the group and encourage interested children to join!

To Register online:

Fill out the Google Form (only once per participating student please). If you are having trouble using the form, please email ontarioyouthstrings@gmail.com for help. Please complete the form thoroughly, as I will be using the information from these responses to contact you in the future.

The Youth Orchestra offers young string players a chance to play together in an ensemble. The members must have access to their own instruments and be willing to practice learning their parts at home so that they come to rehearsal ready to learn as a group (double bass students will be provided a rehearsal instrument this year, but, I ask that you are proactive about bass transportation at concerts especially). It is the organization's intent to build an orchestra that can consistently perform music at a grade 1.5 to grade 3 level and beyond. These levels refer to school arrangements. I have included links to an easier example as well as a harder example below to show the ambition of this fledgling group.

Listening: (pieces we performed 2024/25)

Easier: Subterranean

Medium: 1812 Bar Blues

Harder: Symphony No. 1 (J. Bologne)

OYS Fee:

The OYS fee for 2025-2026 members is $400. This fee will cover: concert shirt, performer meals before concerts when relevant, concert venue rentals, rehearsal space permits, festival fees, insurance fees and other miscellaneous purchases such as new repertoire for the ensemble.

Payment can be made by cheque for now as we are working towards setting up e-transfers. If payment by check is not possible, please email ontarioyouthstrings@gmail.com and we will find a solution for you for the year. There is no need to commit to paying before our first rehearsal in September. Registrants will receive an invoice and payment anytime before thanksgiving weekend works well for us.

All future rehearsals will take place from 7:00 to 9:00pm on Mondays.

Conductor Bio - Ian Medley

Ian Medley is a graduate of OISE/UT and The Schulich School of Music at McGill University. He is currently employed as the full-time strings teacher at the Runnymede Public School in the TDSB. In addition, he teaches in numerous outreach and summer programs and performs regularly in the GTA. In high school, Ian had a co-op placement in the repair department at Geo. Heinl’s & Co., where he learned many skills including sharpening, carving bridges, varnishing, and glueing openings on string instruments. He then worked at James Louder Inc. (a church organ builder) where he honed his fine cabinetry skills. In addition, under the tutelage of Sybille and Greg Walke and John Newton, Ian learned to carve and match the varnish for a new cello top for a damaged instrument.

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