GWYOA.org

2025-2026 Schedule

2025

12 rehearsals for ES and JS, 13 rehearsals for YS, 1 sectional, ES & JS Tours, Winter Concert

SEPTEMBER
September 8,15*, 29

OCTOBER

October 6*, 13, 27

NOVEMBER

November 3*, 10, 17, 24

DECEMBER

December: 1*, 8, 15 (YS only)

JS Tour: The Westchester Thursday, December 11

ES Tour: School Tour Thursday, December 11 (Snow Date: Friday, December 12)

ES Tour: Holiday Lighting Celebration and Performance: Tuesday, December 2 (Snow Date: Wednesday, December 3)

ES Sectionals: Sunday, November 9

JS Sectionals: Sunday, November 23
YS Sectionals: Sunday, TBD

Please note: only YS will be rehearsing on 12/15

Winter Concert Sunday, December 14, 2025
ES: 2:00 pm, JS 3:00 pm, YS 4:15 pm
Hankin Academic Arts Auditorium, WCC

2026

14 rehearsals, 1 sectional, ES & JS Tours, YS Lewis Lionti Concert, Spring Gala Concert

JANUARY

January 5*, 12, 26

FEBRUARY
Feb 2*, 9, 23

Monday, February 9, 2026 Lewis-Lionti Concert

MARCH

March 2*, 9, 16, 23

ES Sectionals: TBD

JS Sectionals: Monday, TDB with Cassatt Quartet

YS sectionals: Sunday, March 22 1:15 pm

APRIL

April 6*, 13, 20, 27

JS Spring Tour Andrus Center: Thursday, April 30

MAY

ES Spring Bus Tour: Friday, May 1

Sunday, May 3, 2026 at 1 pm– Spring Gala, Lincoln Center

AUDITIONS for 2026-2027 Season:

Registration opens April 1, 2026

Saturday, May 9, 2026 and Monday, May 11, 2026

Committee Meetings last Monday of month.

Last Board meeting May 18*

(*) GWYOA Board meetings

Announcements

Congratulations, Class of 2025! As you embark on your next adventure, know that we take great pride in the musical journey we have shared. We are delighted to welcome you to the GWYOA Alumni Community and look forward to continued connection, camaraderie and collaboration.

GWYOA extends our warmest thanks to all who participated in the successful spring auditions. As you enjoy your summer filled with music, remember to secure your place in the 2025-2026 season by registering by August 1. Waitlisted musicians will be notified of any openings after this date. Tuition for the upcoming season is due on August 10. Click here. We eagerly anticipate a remarkable 2025-2026 season, and look forward to creating beautiful music together.

Second Annual Vincent and Victor Lionti Scholarship Award
GWYOA will be awarding it Second Annual Vincent and Victor Lionti Scholarship Award at The Lewis-Lionti Sonata Concert. Application details will be emailed to current Youth Symphony members in May, 2025. Applications will be due September 12, 2025.

As always, thank you for supporting GWYOA and our talented young musicians. We hope to see you at these upcoming events, celebrating the beauty and power of music in our community.

Welcome to the 2025-2026 Season

Please see Member Info for arrival and rehearsal times, plus related info.

Parent/Guardian Info for additional detailed information

Rehearsals and the Winter Concert are held at Westchester Community College's Academic Arts Building near parking lot #4.

About the GWYOA

The Greater Westchester Youth Orchestras Association
is dedicated to the development of young people’s
musicianship through rehearsing and performing together.

The GWYOA is a not-for-profit organization providing excellent grounding in cooperation, helping young people to develop self- esteem, and promoting harmony in our ethnically diverse community through classical music training. Founded in 1953, the GWYOA consists of three orchestras made up of students in grades four through twelve from Westchester County, NY, and from the surrounding counties in the Tri-State area, working in cooperation with the Westchester Community College in Valhalla, NY. All three of the orchestras perform Winter and Spring Concerts each year.

History of the GWYOA

Mr. Harry Alshin, a string teacher in the Scarsdale school system, sowed the seeds for a Westchester-based youth orchestra in 1955. He first organized and conducted a countywide group of junior high-school students, preparing the young participants for the challenges of playing in a youth orchestra. Two years later, the original orchestra was established. The modern-day GWYOA is comprised of three groups: Elementary Strings (grades four through six), Junior Strings (grades seven through nine), and the Youth Symphony (for high-school musicians).

Maestro Alshin remained with Junior Strings until he retired in the 1980s. Dale Lewis was the next conductor, and was followed by Vincent Lionti in 1990.

Elementary Strings was organized in 1983 and was first conducted by Jacqueline Stern. She moved on to lead the Junior Strings in 1996 (where she remains today) when Bernard Klinger joined GWYOA as the new (and current) conductor of the Elementary Strings.

The Youth Symphony has had only five conductors since its inception. Victor Lionti, who took over the baton in 1970 and maintained it for 25 years, holds the longest tenure. His son, Vincent Lionti, who played viola with the GWYOA from the age of 12 through high school, followed in his father’s footsteps and began leading the Youth Symphony in 1996. Vincent guided the Youth Symphony with passion for the next 24 years, but tragically passed away on April 3, 2020, from COVID-related illness. In 2025, The Victor and Vincent Lionti Scholarship launched honoring the Liontis immense contributions to GWYOA and graduating seniors who will major in music in college.

Following the incomprehensible loss of Vincent, the board of GWYOA appointed Kathleen Coletta Feldman to the position of interim conductor, and on November 3, 2021, made that appointment permanent.

During the early years, GWYOA was sponsored by Westchester County and rehearsals were held in the basement of the County Center. There was also a six-week sleep-away summer camp co-sponsored by the GWYOA and the county at Croton Point. For many years after that, GWYOA worked in cooperation with the Westchester Community College in Valhalla, NY, where weekly rehearsals and certain performances were held. While adapting to the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, GWYOA has been working in cooperation with the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, White Plains High School, and St. Gregory the Enlightener Armenian Church for rehearsals and performances. Thanks to the Board’s leadership, all three orchestras maintained a full roster of musicians. GWYOA returned to Westchester Community College for weekly rehearsals and certain performances in 2022.

Performance Venues

The GWYOA orchestras perform in a wide range of venues. In the past they have been honored to perform at:

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts
Carnegie Hall
David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center
Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center
Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center
Ellis Island
Kennedy Center
SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center
Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital
MENC Eastern Division Conference
NYSSMA State Conferences
White Plains Performing Arts Center
1976 Bicentennial celebration in Philadelphia

Various local nursing homes, elementary and middle schools.