“Denton resident Damia Cleaver said she kept waiting for Denton to start a youth orchestra,” writs Lucinda Breeding in Friday’s (3/1) Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, TX). “Denton’s public school system trains promising young musicians, she said, and the University of North Texas College of Music long has been a summertime hotbed of music camps for kids. Finally, Cleaver said, she decided it was time to start a youth orchestra herself…. ‘There are youth orchestras in Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving and Frisco. Denton needs one.’ Cleaver has taught violin and viola privately in Denton for nine years…. Cleaver recruited Hank Chang, conductor of Ascolti Korean Chamber Orchestra, to conduct the youth symphony…. The Youth Symphony of Denton will target middle and high school musicians who have musical training … and want to play more difficult music.… The youth symphony will have auditions in the spring… Cleaver said she learned a lot from her days in youth orchestra. ‘Youth orchestras can do a lot as far as fostering leadership,’ she said. ‘When I was in the orchestra, I felt like we were the orchestra and we did this together. That’s what I want for this group.’ ”
Posted March 6, 2019
