HYSO Programme Overview
The HYSO is comprised of approximately 55 musicians who range in age from 12 to 19 and who play a full range of symphonic instruments. The orchestra rehearses at King’s Christian Collegiate, 528 Burnhamthorpe Road West (corner of Neyagawa, less than 2 km north of Dundas/Highway 5) on Tuesday evenings from September through May. Rehearsals begin at 6:45 and conclude at 9:15 p.m.
Auditions for the HYSO are normally held in June, but we welcome qualified new members whenever we have openings in the orchestra. Currently, we have openings for all instruments except flute.
Typically, the HYSO enjoy a weekend retreat (the cost of which is included in membership fees), three coaching sessions, at least three public concert performances, and one trip or exchange. This fall on the weekend of September 26-27, the HYSO went to Tim Horton Onondaga Farms for their retreat. Onondaga Farms is a newer camp located on 400 acres of beautiful countryside in St. George. The camp is spacious and provides many activities including high and low ropes course, camp fires and a working farm on site. It is a great setting for music making. The staff are friendly and look forward to our return each year.
The HYSO participates in youth orchestra festivals and we also encourage musicians to form ensembles to perform chamber music at concerts and other venues. Watch for special brass and winds ensembles, coming this season!
Janez Govednik, Conductor
Janez Govednik, recipient of numerous scholarships and grants, obtained his B.A. in Conducting after studying in Moscow from 1971-1976 with N.I. Kvitko, S.G. Deliciev and O.M. Ogarkov. In 1982, he studied in Vienna with Professor Karl Osterreicher and then received his Masters Degree in Conducting in 1983 at the St.Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied with Professor A.S.Dmitriev.
From 1976 to 1980, Mr. Govednik served as Conductor at the Moscow Conservatory's Opera Studio. From 1981 to 1988 he was Conductor at the Belgrade Opera House, and from November 1988 he was Conductor at the National Theatre (Opera and Ballet) in Novi Sad. During the years 1979-1993, he also was a conductor/teacher at the Conservatory of Music in Belgrade, teaching conducting, orchestra, chamber music, pedagogy and sight-reading. In the 1986/87 seasons, he served as Assistant Conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
Beside his engagements as a guest conductor, adjudicator and lecturer in Europe, Janez Govednik performed many concerts in the USA with choirs and also served as Music Director of the North York Concert Orchestra and Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra at Wilfrid Laurier University (Faculty of Music) in Waterloo, Ontario, where in addition to leading the orchestra, he taught conducting classes (advanced orchestral conducting). He has also served as a conductor at the Kincardine Summer Music Festivals and a guest conductor for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Brampton Symphony Orchestra, Cathedral bluffs Symphony Orchestra and Oakville Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Govednik has also conducted the Windsor Symphony and led orchestras at The Atlantic Festival of Youth Orchestras in Halifax and the Canadian Youth Orchestra Festival in Ottawa.
Maestro Govednik displays his complex and eruptive fantasy most effectively in long musical structures that are lyrical while at the same time are dramatic and monumental. Dynamic leadership and a passionate style of conducting made him a recipient of several awards and prizes.
Over the years, Govednik`s has built a career based on his extraordinary versatility. He conducted symphonic music, operas, ballets, choral works, musicals and music for children. He recorded often for Radio and TV. Along with his work with professional groups, Govednik worked with conservatory, youth and community orchestras and ensembles as a guest conductor and was a teacher, lecturer and adjudicator for different competitions and festivals.
Janez Govednik has served at the Conductor for the Halton Youth Symphony Orchestra since 1997.
Images and photography provided by
Derek Woollam Photography.
