THE BAND PLAYS ON

Youth Orchestras of San Antonio takes center stage with return to live shows

Strike up the band!

While the past year or so has felt like a broken record repeating the phrase “Stay at home” over and over again, one cherished San Antonio youth-based organization isn’t playing second fiddle to the pandemic this summer.

Youth Orchestras of San Antonio, which has been working to change the lives of young people through music since 1949, will make a jubilant return to the stage with a full lineup of concerts scheduled this month to conclude its 2020/2021 season, and will host its YOSA Summer Symphony Camp in person this July.

The YOSA City Series concerts kick off with the first show in a series of season finale events on Sunday, May 9 from 3-4 pm at Trinity Baptist Church, and will feature members of YOSA Repertory Strings and YOSA Prelude Strings performing the free concert.

Additional YOSA City Series free concerts include:

Members of YOSA Concertino Strings, YOSA Sinfonietta Strings, and YOSA Capriccio Strings performing Sunday, May 9 from 7-8 pm at Trinity Baptist Church.
Members of the YOSA Percussion Ensemble and YOSA Symphony performing Sunday, May 16 from 4-5 pm at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. (While admission is free, tickets must be reserved.)
Members of the YOSA Flute Choir and Wind Ensemble performing Sunday, May 16 from 8-9 pm at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. (Admission is free, but tickets must be reserved.)

The 2021 YOSA Invitational, a festival featuring San Antonio middle school and high school bands will take to the Tobin Center stage on May 17 from 1-9:30 pm. Check out the YOSA website for more details.

The organization, which reaches some 2,500 young people representing 130 San Antonio-area schools each year, will conclude its season with a finale concert performed by the YOSA Philharmonic — its first live concert since March 2020 — on Sunday, May 23 from 7-8 pm. The show, part of the YOSA Zachry Series, will feature the most advanced young musicians from San Antonio, as well as a special appearance by renowned clarinetist Anthony McGill, the New York Philharmonic’s first African American principal player. Tickets are available through the Tobin Center.

And young musicians eager to get out of the house this summer (you’re welcome, parents) can check out the YOSA Summer Symphony Camp in July. Campers participate in daily rehearsals and sectionals with camp faculty, which includes some of San Antonio’s top professional musicians and educators. This year’s camp offerings include Middle School String Orchestras, High School String Orchestras, and the popular Orchestra X. Camp registration will remain open until enrollment capacity is reached. Placement audition videos must be submitted no later than June 28.

And it’s never too early to get a jam session planned: YOSA will host its auditions for the 2021/2022 YOSA Orchestras season by video submission this summer. Auditions are free and the results will be announced before the end of the summer. Video auditions must be submitted by June 7. More information about musician requirements is available here.

families music symphony

This week's hot headlines

Texas restaurants' expansion tops week's 5 hottest San Antonio stories

Taco Cabana, a San Antonio-based company

Taco Cabana/Facebook

undefined

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. 7 Mexican chains are taking over the U.S., starting in Texas. The U.S. is set to be on the receiving end of an explosion of Mexican chain restaurants — and Texas, God bless, is doing its part. An eye-opening (and clever) story on Mashed called "Mexican Chain Restaurants You're About To See Everywhere" finds 12 chains all on the verge of expansion. Seven are from Texas.

2. San Antonio is the No. 4 most educated city in the country, says Forbes. Austin and San Antonio don't get all the same opportunities as the even larger cities in Texas, but in a recent study they prove they're prepared. Both made the top 10 in Forbes Advisor's "Most Educated Cities In The U.S." list: San Antonio was No. 4, and Austin was No. 7.

3. Central Texas barbecue joint makes Bon Appétit's Best New Restaurants list. One charming barbecue joint about an hour from San Antonio has done it once again, this time making one of the top editorial lists a U.S. eatery can make: Bon Appétit's 20 Best New Restaurants list. Barbs B Q in Lockhart, 30 miles from Austin, was the only Texas restaurant to clinch a spot.

4. Trinity University grad Alice Walton is now the world's richest woman. Trinity University alum and Walmart heiress Alice Walton has earned the title of world's wealthiest woman. According toForbes, Walton has toppled L’Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers of France to become the richest woman on the planet for the first time since 2022.

5. San Antonio celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with 56 mostly free events. People across the country know about Cinco de Mayo, but folks in San Antonio know Dieciséis de Septiembre is where it's at. To celebrate the Mexican independence day — the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month — the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture and the Diez y Seis de Septiembre Commission are throwing another month of parties, parades, performances, and more.