About us

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Established in 1993 by Oshawa violinist John Beaton, the Durham Youth Orchestra provides young musicians with the enriching experience of performing music by many great composers, including Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky. The goal of the DYO is to nurture the artistic and personal growth of young musicians through the experience of playing orchestral masterpieces. The DYO provides the wonderful opportunity for young people with a passion for classical music to develop their musical skills and hone their talent in an orchestra setting!

The Durham Youth Orchestra performs in a minimum of three concerts each season. The orchestra’s involvement in the community includes educational concerts presented to Durham area students. Through these efforts, orchestra members gain valuable performing experience and help contribute to the musical culture of Durham Region.

John Beaton earned a B.A. (Honours Music) from the University of Western Ontario and a B.Ed. from the University of Toronto. While at Western, he studied violin for five years with Prof. Yuri Mazurkevich, a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory and former student of David Oistrakh, and conducting with Prof. Deral Johnson. He has attended workshops in Suzuki Violin pedagogy at Queen’s University, the University of Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier University. Mr. Beaton has been a member of the violin sections of Orchestra London and the Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra. He is the founder/music director of the Durham Youth Orchestra, and has been a busy violin and viola teacher in Oshawa for over 30 years.

 

Paul Otway is a freelance trumpet player in Southern Ontario. He works with several orchestras including the Windsor Symphony, Ontario Philharmonic, Niagara Symphony, and the Peterborough Symphony. Paul most recently played principal trumpet in the musical “Sousatzka” and has played in numerous Mirvish productions including The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables, and Dancap Productions including My Fair Lady, Anne of Green Gables, South Pacific, and West Side Story. Paul has also performed in several productions at the Shaw Festival. Freelance work has allowed him to play with many well-known artists including, in 2015, Idina Menzel and Diana Krall. Paul’s playing has been recorded on several CDs, and broadcast on CBC Radio with a variety of ensembles. Paul can be seen in the movie, “Fever Pitch” (look for the trumpet player!). He has performed for live audiences in 36 states, and 7 provinces.

The Durham Youth Orchestra is a non-profit corporation and a member of Orchestras Canada. The orchestra is governed by a Board of Directors elected by the general membership. The DYO encourages active participation of parent volunteers for the activities and maintenance of the orchestra.

 

 

 

Music Director

Assistant Music Director

President

Vice-President

Treasurers

 

Secretary

Concerts

Directors

John Beaton

Paul Otway

Rocco Lombardi

Paul Cardwell

Isabelle DiCiccio

Stefano DiCiccio

Jane Pfeil

Milan Kliska

Linda Funnell

Kayley Lynch

Mihai Balasescu

 

 

 

 

Featured Alumni

Meagan Turner

Meagan Turner

Viola

Meagan Turner has performed throughout North America,

Europe, Japan and Australia. She has appeared at numerous

festivals, including Ravinia, Tanglewood, Tippett Rise, the

Orford Arts Centre, the Baltic Sea Festivals, the Lunenburg

Academy and the Toronto Summer Music Festival. As an

orchestral musician, Meagan has served as principal viola

of the New York String Orchestra Seminar, Spoleto Festival

Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Centre Orchestra, Juilliard

Orchestras, and completed an Academy fellowship with the

Canadian Opera Company. From 2018-2020, Meagan held

a residency at Carnegie Hall (Ensemble Connect) designed

to prepare extraordinary, young, classical musicians for

careers combining musical excellence, teaching, community

engagement, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership.

Additionally,she is the recipient of an Elizabeth

Barton Pine Foundation Career Grant, a Virtu Foundation Grant,

the University of Toronto Graduating Award, and was named

one of Canada’s “Hottest 30 Under” Musicians (CBC). Meagan

completed herundergraduate and certificate at the University of

Toronto under the tutelage of Erika Raum and Eric Nowlin, and

her Master’s degree at The Juilliard School as a full-scholarship

student of Samuel Rhodes. Meagan recently performed in a series

of concerts with the Australia Chamber Orchestra.

Rod Gonzaga

Rod Gonzaga

Violinist

Position: Software Architect in enterprise software consulting firm in Toronto with clients in areas such as banking, investment fund management and health insurance.

Education: Hon. BSc., University of Toronto (St. George), Software Engineering Specialist and Human Biology Major

Playing an instrument alone is one thing. Playing in a musical ensemble with your peers and friends is another. I’ve been taking private violin lessons since I was 8 years old, but it was really in ensemble playing like in DYO that I feel music came to life for me. Between the connection with other similarly minded and motivated young people, positive peer pressure, healthy competition, a shared creative experience, and the long-lasting friendships that are forged along the way, there are few other opportunities like playing in an orchestra. I strongly believe that the social, intellectual and emotional growth that comes from these opportunities carry over into academic and professional life, even if you’re chosen path is not towards becoming a professional musician.

Chelsea Vaillancourt

Chelsie Vaillancourt

Flutist

Chelsie Vaillancourt began studying the flute at the age of seven; she began learning the Suzuki flute method with her first teacher, Dr. Pandora Bryce. In 2021, she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from McGill University where she studied with Prof. Carolyn Christie.

Chelsie has appeared as a soloist with the Etobicoke Philharmonic, the Oakville Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Sinfonietta. She also won the first annual concerto competition at the National Music Camp of Canada. In 2016, Chelsie won first place and received the highest overall mark in the woodwind category of the Canadian Music Competition.

Throughout her youth, Chelsie was a member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra, the La Jeunesse Youth Orchestra and the Durham Youth Orchestra. She greatly enjoyed playing with the McGill Symphony Orchestra as a part of her performance degree.

In 2015, Chelsie attended the Young Artist Summer Program at the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Mimi Stillman and participated in a masterclass with Jasmine Choi. She has also performed in masterclasses taught by Robert Langevin, Lorna McGhee, Linda Chesis, Paul Edmund-Davies, Kelly Zimba and Leslie Newman.

Chelsie is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Musicology at McGill University; she continues to take flute lessons and performs locally in Montreal and the Greater Toronto Area.

Kevin Odorico

Kevin Odorico

Cellist

Kevin first began his studies in music on the violin at the age of 4. After playing the violin for six years, he decided to switch to the cello and began his studies with Joowon Kim. Between 2004 and 2011, Kevin has been an active member in numerous local youth orchestras, which include: The Durham Youth Orchestra, The Academy Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, and the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. During that time, he was a part of numerous chamber ensembles which performed at concerts, weddings, and charity functions. To further his studies in music, between 2006 and 2009 he attended the Young Artists Performance Academy at the Royal Conservatory. He has participated in many local music festivals as well as the Ontario Provincial Music Festival where he has won numerous awards and scholarships. Kevin completed his Bachelor of Music in 2015 at Western University in London, Ontario, where he studied cello performance under Professor Thomas Wiebe.

Chantal Grybas

Chantal Grybas

Singer

French-Canadian singer Chantal Grybas is a native of Whitby,

Ontario. The mezzo-soprano completed her Bachelors of Music

at Wilfrid Laurier University under Leslie Fagan, and her Master’s

degree under Deborah Voigt at the San Francisco Conservatory

of Music. She also received her postgraduate diploma at the

Conservatory, working with Frederica Von Stade as recipient

of the Sher-Right Scholarship. She was the winner of the Ellie

Silver award in March 2020’s Henry and Maria Holt Memorial

Scholarship Competition. Chantal has sung as Lucretia in Britten’s

The Rape of Lucretia, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Kathy

in a recent production of The Last Five Years by Jason Robert

Brown. She has sung the role of Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutti with

the Long Range Opera, and has performed as a soloist with the

Durham Youth Orchestra. Chantal is President of Monsters for Change,

the Charitable arm of Conversion Monster, a tech company based in

Buffalo, New York. She is happy to be back and singing in the area

after having lived and studied in California for the past five years.

Chantal Grybas

Sarah Pollard

Flute and Piccolo

Recognized as one of CBC Music’s 2023 “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30,” flutist Sarah Pollard is the Assistant Principal Flute and Piccolo of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Prior to this she was Principal Flute of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, and Second Flute and Piccolo of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. Sarah is an alumna of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, the Orchestra of the Americas, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Royal Conservatory Orchestra, the McGill Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestral Institute at Whistler and the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with the Pronto Musica Orchestra, and she is a substitute musician with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and the Niagara Symphony Orchestra.
As a chamber musician Sarah has performed with numerous ensembles, a highlight of which was performing Boulez’s infamous Le marteau sans maître in the Ottawa Chamberfest’s New Music Now Festival. She has also participated in several other chamber music festivals across Canada, including Banff’s Evolution: Classical festival directed by the Gryphon Trio, and the Bathurst Chamberfest in New Brunswick.
A passionate teacher, Sarah teaches flute students across Canada and maintains a private studio both online and in-person. She has been invited to adjudicate at the Lakehead Festival of Music and the Arts, and has coached the flutists of the Durham Youth Orchestra as well as the Québec Youth Wind Ensemble.

Sarah is a graduate of The Glenn Gould School, McGill University and the University of Toronto, where she studied with eminent Canadian flutists Susan Hoeppner, Carolyn Christie, Nora Shulman and Peg Albrecht. In masterclasses, music academies and private coachings, Sarah has had the opportunity to work with renowned flutists Denis Bluteau, Jennifer Gunn (piccolo), Jeffery Zook (Piccolo), Emmanuel Pahud, Leone Buyse, Jeanne Baxtresser, William Bennett, Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson, Demarre McGill, Kelly Zimba, Joanna G’froerer, Henrik Heide, Agata Igras, Robert Langevin, Gwen Klassen (piccolo) and Claire Guimond (Baroque flute).

What Our Audience Says

I am pleased to convey my sincere appreciation of the Durham Youth Orchestra. In addition to hearing members perform at our Inaugural Council Meeting and at the recent Mayor’s Fundraiser at Trafalgar Castle, I have had the pleasure of attending many concerts at St. George’s in Oshawa and seeing the DYO perform with the Ontario Philharmonic at the Regent Theatre. These talented young musicians enhance the cultural richness of our town and region. My best wishes for the continuing success of the Durham Youth Orchestra.

Don Mitchell

Mayor, Town of Whitby

In the many years I’ve been associated with the Durham Youth Orchestra as Honorary Patron, I’ve been thrilled by every concert. I’ve also been thrilled to witness the progress of kids from tiny beginners to brilliant performers who go on to elite schools such as Julliard.

The secrets to all these successes are predictable but so very difficult – great kids, a brilliant maestro in John Beaton, and immensely loving and hard-working parents and volunteers.

‎I extend my congratulations to all and look forward to many more great concerts.

With very best wishes,

Dr Gary Polonsky

Honorary Patron, Durham Youth Orchestra

I have been to two concerts performed by the DYO and have been absolutely amazed at the talent and discipline of these young people.

I sit there and close my eyes and allow the music to surround me and enter my soul.   By closing my eyes I don’t pick out any one instrument or performer and simply experience.  When I open my eyes again I continue to be amazed that these are young people performing challenging pieces and doing it beautifully.   And they are enjoying it!

I’m hooked!!!

Bobbie Drew

Regional Councillor, Durham Region

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