The Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus is excited to announce that the Whitewater Orchestra Festival, scheduled for Tuesday, November 13, 2018, will be hosted at Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts.

The YOGC’s' Whitewater Orchestra Festival provides middle and high school orchestras in Muscogee County School District an opportunity to perform for adjudicators in a state-of-the-art performance hall, and receive short clinics from the Youth Orchestra's Maestro Jim Palmer. The participating orchestra directors will receive a recording of their performance, written feedback from three highly-qualified educators, a video of their conducting, and an opportunity to perform in Columbus State University Schwob School of Music's Legacy Hall. The judges and clinicians include: Sharon Anderson, Dr. Annalisa Change, Cathie Hudnall, and Jim Palmer.

● Sharon Anderson, 41 year veteran orchestra teacher, and nationally recognized orchestra conductor,
clinician, and pedagogue. She is the founding director of the Fulton Youth Orchestra programs.

● Annalisa Chang, Ph.D., Director of Music Education at Clayton State University, previously Director of
Orchestras at Leon High School and Director of the Tallahassee Youth Orchestras Fundamentals
program in Tallahassee, Florida.

● Dr. Cathie Hudnall, Artistic Director and Symphony Orchestra Conductor for the Metropolitan Youth
Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta, Georgia, and a retired music educator in Gwinnett County.

● Jim Palmer, Music Director and Maestro at the Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus, arranger for
Alfred Music, and 30 years of experience teaching public school and youth orchestra.

"This festival represents an enormous opportunity for YOGC and the public orchestra teachers to
collaborate. Our music teachers work incredibly hard each and every day with students from all different
backgrounds. YOGC brings over 100 of them together every week during the school year to work on
separate music for separate concerts, but this is a place where we can all come together for a common
goal and the betterment of all. We had a wonderful time last year and look forward to improving on that and continuing to serve the students of our community." – Stephanie Payne, YOGC Executive Director

Schedule for Whitewater Orchestra Festival:

● 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. - Three Performances/Clinics

● 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. - Lunch Break (not included for participants)

● 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. - Four Performances/Clinics

School orchestras wishing to register should contact Stephanie Payne at 706.256.3614 or by email at
[email protected] for more information.