History

The Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony, founded in 1989 by Dr. Gary M. Ciepluch and Robert McAllister, is now in its nineteenth season.  1995/96 marked the initial season for the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony II.  Sponsored by the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony was established to provide a musical venue for the most outstanding high school woodwind, brass, and percussion musicians throughout Northeast Ohio.  The Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony rehearses from mid-September through early May, each Saturday morning, in Kulas Hall at the Institute and in Denison Hall at Case.

The mission of the group is twofold: to perform the most significant symphonic band and wind ensemble literature, and to provide the opportunity for outstanding young musicians to rehearse and perform together on a weekly basis.  Selection for the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony is through auditions held each May for the following fall.  Approximately 450 students audition for selection into the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony I and II.  In addition to the concerts performed each season in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and in Severance Hall, the groups have performed numerous times at conventions and festivals and in concert halls throughout the United States and abroad.  In 1992, the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony was invited to perform at the Music Educators National Conference held in New Orleans.  Many of their performances can be heard on Cleveland’s WCLV 104.9 FM.  The Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony I has performed at the Ohio Music Education Association State Conventions in Cleveland (1991), Dayton (1996), Columbus (1998, 2004), and Cincinnati (2002, 2008).

In June 1994, the group began a series of international concert tours.  They have performed in Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, and England.