The Spokane Youth Symphony, founded in 1949, has been a cornerstone of musical education in the Inland Northwest for generations. From its humble beginnings with 30 young musicians, it has grown under the guidance of visionary conductors and dedicated educators into a distinguished organization that continues to nourish talent, foster a love for orchestral music, and enrich the culture of the Inland Northwest in lasting and impactful ways.
Today, over 250 young musicians are enrolled in our orchestras, each simultaneously contributing to and benefiting from the vibrant musical legacy that defines the Spokane Youth Symphony. Our alumni, staff, volunteers, and supporters demonstrate a strong commitment to our organization’s financial and artistic needs, ensuring that SYS continues to thrive and inspire future generations of musicians.
The Spokane Junior Symphony was born on July 28, 1949, as a nonprofit organization formed to promote a youth orchestra in Spokane similar to the famous Portland Junior Symphony Orchestra. Harold Paul Whelan, director and founder of the Spokane Philharmonic, recognized a need that had long been felt by members of the Spokane musical community: no high school in the area could supply, by itself, enough student musicians to form a symphony.
Under Whelan’s initiative and talented direction, the Spokane Junior Symphony began rehearsals in the KXLY television & radio building. It included 30 musicians from junior and senior high schools and colleges – and a desperate need for oboes, bassoons, and violas! Applause for the ever-changing group of talented musicians has been ringing through the air ever since its first concert was held on May 23, 1950, in the Commandery Room of the Spokane Masonic Center.
The Spokane Junior Symphony was honored in 1960 to be joined on stage by the Spokane Philharmonic for a side-by-side concert coordinated by Whelan, who was still conducting both the Junior Symphony and the Spokane Philharmonic at that time. This special collaboration between local professionals and young student musicians celebrated the level of skill attained by Spokane Junior Symphony players by acknowledging them as younger peers, inspiring them to even greater excellence through memorable encounters with the broader music community.
In 1962, after twelve music-filled years, Whelan passed the baton to Donald Thulean, who previously held a position as Dean of the School of Music at Pacific University, Oregon. Thulean added further instructional opportunities to the curriculum which included the Spokane Junior Symphony Summer Camp. This unique educational concept, attended by over 70 students, performed its own inaugural concert on August 30, 1964, after an intensive three days of musical instruction. The tradition of this much anticipated annual summer camp has continued for over 60 years and now includes two different performance levels.
The program expanded yet again in 1968 to include a training orchestra for younger ages, and five years later the distinction was made between the two groups: the Spokane Junior Symphony and the Spokane Youth Orchestra. Since then, the Spokane Youth Symphony has grown to include four orchestral groups of graduated playing abilities, a beginning strings program, as well as honors ensembles and chamber groups for wind and string players alike.
In 1970, another side-by-side concert with the now-renamed Spokane Symphony once again recognized students’ hard work and artistic accomplishments, giving another generation of young musicians an opportunity to share the stage with exceptional local professionals and to aspire to those same levels of excellence.
During the following decade, several well-known leaders from the Spokane music education community would each take a turn conducting the Spokane Junior Symphony, including bassoonist Dr. Wendal Jones, violinist Sr. Xavier Mary Courvoisier, horn player Renwick Taylor, bassoonist and composer Ronald Klimko, and violinist Vivian Adams.
Among these conductors, Sr. Xavier Mary and Vivian Adams were particularly known for holding the orchestra to extremely high standards. They demanded the very best that the students could give, and the students delivered, pushing the orchestra to new heights of excellence.
1979 brought the current official name of Spokane Youth Symphony to the organization. The years that followed were turbulent times for orchestral music in Spokane, with dramatic changes in leadership at the Spokane Symphony and other area orchestras affecting the stability of the broader Spokane music community in general. As musicians moved in and out of the area, the Spokane Youth Symphony conductor’s baton changed hands several times. After conducting two SYS seasons from 1981-1983, Dennis Layendecker went on to a 26-year career with the United States Air Force Band, achieving the rank of Colonel and leading ensembles before numerous world leaders, including seven American presidents, Queen Elizabeth II, and Pope John Paul II.
Through the years, students in the Spokane Youth Symphony have been fortunate to share the spotlight with hundreds of exceptional musicians, actors, and dancers who joined them on the stage as guest artists. Winners of concerto competitions hosted by the Greater Spokane Music & Allied Arts Festival (now MusicFest Northwest) and area colleges were given the opportunity to showcase their hard work while their student peers provided the orchestral backdrop. SYS now hosts its own concerto competitions and continues to honor outstanding young artists through collaboration with the Spokane Symphony and MusicFest Northwest.
James Schoepflin led SYS from 1989 to 1993 after conducting the Washington Idaho Symphony for eleven years. Like many SYS conductors, he also played as a member of the Spokane Symphony. During his tenure at SYS, he had recruited a Spokane Symphony horn player, Verne Windham, to help with sectional coaching and substitute conducting. This began a relationship between Windham and the Spokane Youth Symphony that would prove to be pivotal in the coming years.
After the resignation of director Wayne Smith in 1996, the Spokane Youth Symphony faced an uncertain future. Several prominent players had also left the orchestra, and those that remained were disheartened. Interim conductor Verne Windham took a bold and unusual step in his search for solutions: he sat down with the students and talked to them. Overwhelmingly, they said that they wanted more challenging music, more concerts, and a longer season. This conversation began a relationship of mutual trust and respect that saved the Spokane Youth Symphony from disintegration and lasted well beyond Verne’s 15-year tenure.
With the help of Vivian Adams, a talented violin teacher and former SYS conductor, Kelly Farris, long-time concertmaster of the Spokane Symphony, Carol Graef, Spokane Symphony cellist, and other dedicated members of the Spokane music community, Verne revitalized and rebuilt the Spokane Youth Symphony into a stronger and more stable organization.
In 2007, the Spokane Youth Symphony became the first Artistic Constituent of the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, making this historical and distinguished theater the home of its four-concert seasonal subscription series. Students who set foot in this stunning venue for the first time are often overwhelmed at the opportunity to perform on stage here, and the theater generously gives SYS preferential choice of performance dates when scheduling each new season.
When Verne Windham announced his retirement after 15 years as artistic director, the hiring committee sifted through more than 40 applications from around the world before selecting Julián Gómez Giraldo as his first successor. An immigrant from Colombia, Julián shared Verne’s passion for music and for young people and led the orchestra through another period of growth. He was followed by Ruth Boden, herself an alumna of SYS, before Dr. Philip Baldwin was hired as Artistic Director in 2014. Like so many of the conductors who came before him, Dr. Baldwin continues the traditions of artistic excellence, respect, and exemplary orchestral education that began so many years ago and continue to this day.
Shortly after James Lowe assumed his role as the Music Director of the Spokane Symphony in 2019, he approached the Spokane Youth Symphony with several ideas for collaboration between the Spokane Symphony and SYS, including another side-by-side concert as well as rehearsal and sectional support provided by the Spokane Symphony.
While many youth organizations were required to close their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spokane Youth Symphony was able to continue operations thanks to the tireless work of Jennifer O’Bannan and her administrative staff, the generosity of our conductors, and the creativity of a dedicated Board of Directors who risked everything to keep SYS alive. Tuition charges were waived, teleconference equipment was purchased, and students were given the option of attending in-person rehearsals or participating online as their situation allowed. Many students and families reported that SYS rehearsals were a bright spot in their lives during the pandemic, and the organization was saved yet again from potential disintegration. As they have done so many times in the past, the arts preserved a sense of humanity and dignity through such difficult times.
After a local school district lost funding for its elementary strings programs in 2023, SYS established the Spokane Youth Suzuki Academy to provide educational opportunities for beginning string players in grades 3-5. Students with no prior playing experience attend weekly group lessons and masterclasses taught by area music teachers, many of whom are SYS alumni themselves. Parents attend along with students to help reinforce techniques and skills that need to be practiced at home, and students are prepared to join the beginner-level Spokane Youth Strings orchestra after two years.
The rich history of the Spokane Youth Symphony demonstrates a vibrant relationship of reciprocity between past, present, and future musicians. Young and aspiring students are launched into their musical futures, aided in the present by those who have gone before. As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of this incredible rganization, we remember that the true treasures of this Diamond Jubilee are the very people here present, in person or in spirit, who have given themselves so generously to this mission. All of their contributions of time, energy, and musicality continue to be beautifully blended together, creating a glorious symphony of exemplary orchestral education and performance opportunities for the youth of the Inland Northwest.