CIYS

The CIYS, founded in 1965, consists of the most experienced musicians in our organization. Students range in age through high school. Its members are drawn from a wide geographical area and enjoy the enrichment and challenge of performing with other serious and dedicated musicians.
The Youth Symphony has a history of presenting exciting repertoire and looks forward to each season of fine performances.

CIYS welcomes Brian Dollinger to conduct the Youth Symphony beginning in the 2009-2010 season...

Brian is the Music Director of the Muscatine Symphony Orchestra, Music Director and Conductor for the Bradley Symphony Orchestra, Double Bass instructor at Bradley University in Peoria, IL and Music Director and Conductor for the Clinton Symphony (IA). During the Fall of 2008, Mr. Dollinger conducted the Illinois Wesleyan Civic Orchestra in Bloomington, IL. He was the Assistant Conductor of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra and Ball State University Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of the East Central Indiana Youth Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Dollinger has conducted the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, the Marion Philharmonic Orchestra (IN), and the Muncie Symphony Orchestra (IN).

In 2008, Mr. Dollinger traveled to Lomza, Poland to appear as guest conductor of the Lomzynska Orkiestra Kameralna (Lomza Chamber Orchestra) and has been invited back to conduct more programs in Poland. He is a frequent conductor and clinician for various youth string festivals, competitions, and workshops. In November of 2008, Mr. Dollinger was the Guest Conductor for the Illinois Music Educators Association District Festival for Districts 2 & 8.

He has been a participant at various conducting workshops organized by the American Symphony Orchestra League, the International Academy of Advanced Conducting, and the Conductor’s Institute of South Carolina, among others. He has studied conducting with Leonid Korchmar, Oleg Proskurnya, Adrian Gnam, Manuel Alvarez, Larry Rachleff, Glenn Block, Leonard Atherton, and Tomasz Golka.

This year, Mr. Dollinger is expecting to finish his Doctor of Arts degree at Ball State University with a primary emphasis in orchestral conducting and a secondary emphasis in double bass performance. Mr. Dollinger graduated from Illinois State University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Double Bass Performance and in 2000 with a Master of Music Degree in Orchestral Conducting and Double Bass Performance. Mr. Dollinger was the recipient of three academic awards from Ball State University; “Outstanding Graduate Student” in the School of Music, a “Certificate of Achievement” from the Graduate School at Ball State, and an inductee into the Phi Kappa Lambda Honor Society.

Mr. Dollinger is the proud father of eight-year old daughter, Arianna Rose who is in her third year of taking violin lessons.

Directors Notes

As a young bassist, during the 1980's, in the Central Illinois Youth Symphony Organization, I would have never dreamed that I would someday be the conductor for such a wonderful institution. This is certainly a wonderful opportunity for me to bring back the knowledge and many skills I've learned and experienced since my days with the CIYS those many years ago and to share them with the next generation of fine musicians.
As we all strive to make music a bigger part of our lives through private training, school ensembles, church ensembles, IMEA events, and with our participation in the CIYS organization we come to realize that music is truly a life-long journey that each of us takes which influences our lives in so many ways both musically and non-musically. My hopes and goals for all the student musicians that I am privileged to work with and mentor is to foster a life-long love and appreciation for all that music has to offer us all. Music is the universal language; it brings about all the emotions of the listener and performer; it tells stories; it teaches us about human history; it shows all of the innermost parts of the human soul; it is truly magical. We are so fortunate to be able to share this every week with each other and ultimately through our performances, with our family, friends and general audience supporters.
Some of us become professional musicians and others of us doctors, lawyers, teachers, farmers but we will always have the shared experiences and love for creating wonderful music together. Some of my fondest memories from my youth were with the CIYS, the place every Thursday evening was spent. This is my ultimate goal for you.
This first season that we will share promises to be very exciting for everyone! Great master works for the entire ensemble as well as challenging works for the brass and percussion sections as well as memorable music that all string players will remember for its beauty and difficulty. Dvorak's New World Symphony has an incredibly fiery fourth movement that has great energy and drive as well as famous thematic materials. I have also decided to include regional talent as guest artists with the CIYS. This year Joshua Russell, piano faculty at Bradley University, will be performing the famous first movement from Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor. We will also be collaborating with Peoria Ballet in a concert performance that involves music from both of the year's concerts and some surprises too. Our spring concert will again feature the Annual Concerto Competition winner and some incredible music from Gustav Holst's The Planets and an operatic overture by Franz Schubert.
I want all of you to feel free to contact me at rehearsals in person or in between rehearsals via e-mail to talk about the repertoire we are performing, your long-term musical goals and aspirations, or even about the Chicago Cubbies! "My door is always open."
Again, I am eagerly looking forward to our time together as we learn, grow, and make music in the CIYS!

Good luck on auditions and I'll see you all very soon!

Mr. D

Visit Brian Dollinger's Website...

Tuition

The tuition for the 2009-2010 season for CIYS is $300.00 per year. This is payable in two installments. The first installment is due in June at time of notificaion of acceptance and the second installment is due in September when rehearsals begin.