Celebrating The 50^th Anniversary

Of The Pinellas Youth Symphony

With A European Tour

The Pinellas Youth Symphony will be celebrating its 50^th anniversary during the 2007-2008 season. As part of this celebration a group of approximately 55 student musicians will embark on a 12-day tour to Italy and Austria in June 2008. Students will have opportunities to experience firsthand the cultures of Italy and Austria. They will perform concerts in remarkable venues, interact with Italian/Austrian student and professional musicians, and explore historically significant castles, museums, palaces, gardens, and cathedrals. Many of these places are associated with the early periods of music and with famous composers and musicians such as Mozart, Haydn, and Monteverdi. The trip will include tours of  Florence, Venice, Salzburg, and Vienna.

Funds for this trip will be raised entirely separate from the organization’s yearly fiscal budget. Group fundraising events will take place throughout the coming months and will include events such as benefit concerts, raffle drawings, the sale of advertisements for a 50^th Anniversary Commemorative Tour Program and marketing of PYS tour clothing items and memorabilia.  Students may also seek sponsors to contribute funds towards their own individual travel expenses, in addition to soliciting corporate sponsors to assist with funds needed to cover costs for the entire group to travel. Student and Corporate Solicitation forms are located on this website.

Musicians who are members of the senior level orchestra, The Pinellas Youth Symphony, for 2007-2008 season will be invited to participate in the tour. Students from other PYS orchestras may audition for vacant seats made available by those members of the Pinellas Youth Symphony who are unable to join in the tour.

PYS will be traveling with Encore Tours, a division of ACIS tours located in Boston, Massachusetts. You may obtain more information about this company at www.encoretours.com.

For further information about the tour, the PYS organization, student sponsorships or corporate sponsorships, please direct inquiries to pysdirector@yahoo.com or call the PYS voicemail at (727) 438-3149.