Orchestra Profiles
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Fairbanks Symphony and Youth Orchestras
ORP: October 2004
Founded in 1958, the Fairbanks Symphony Association reorganized as a non-profit organization in 1969. The Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and its touring ensemble, the Arctic Chamber Orchestra, perform more than twenty concerts during the regular season, in both Fairbanks and more remote communities in Alaska. Both groups are comprised entirely of volunteer musicians who give additional time to the FSO's various educational programs.
The Fairbanks Youth Orchestras' history runs nearly parallel with their parent organization, the Fairbanks Symphony. The original youth orchestra performed its first concert in May 1971, and has grown over the years into three ensembles of ascending age levels: the Fairbanks Youth String Orchestra, the Fairbanks Youth Concert Orchestra, and the Fairbanks Youth Symphony. Each group meets weekly for rehearsals, and the entire FYO family performs together in two or three concerts each season.
Eduard Zilberkant is the conductor and music director of the FSO and the FYS.