The Young Peoples Chamber Orchestra is a group sponsored by the Education Department of the Santa Rosa Symphony. It has around twenty members and, because they are all string players and are able to wear masks, their rehearsals for the spring season are going ahead. They didn’t have an approved site for their first rehearsal so I volunteered my backyard near Railroad Square in Santa Rosa. On a warm evening in early October, they gathered in a diffuse group around carefully swabbed music stands. Before they were able to get down to the business of learning this season’s repertoire, I gave a presentation and fielded questions about the Redwood Violin Project.
The YPCO will playing on the Redwood Violin in their Spring concert and will be premiering one or more pieces composed by student members for the occasion.