Blue Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra The Blue Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra (IYSO) is comprised of talented and inspired young musicians and performs a full range of orchestral literature. Under the direction of Janis Peterson, the 2012 IYSO's repertoire will include the Overture to Russian and Ludmilla by Glinka and the Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Peter Ilyich Tschaikovsky. For the 2012 tour, the IYSO will join with the Blue Lake International Choir to perform the Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi in six European communities with a guest conductor and regional chorus in each location. They will also open the 2012 Blue Lake Summer Arts Festival with the Requiem on Friday, June 15 and present an encore performance at Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan on Tuesday, July 24th.
2012 International Youth Symphony Orchestra Janis Shier Peterson attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp as a camper in 1969. She has vivid memories of playing violin in the orchestra and being chosen to play a vibraphone part on Nelhybel’s Music for Orchestra. It was an inspiring two weeks and the reason she jumped at the chance to return as a conductor twenty years later! Since that time, Janis has conducted high school Concert, Symphony and Masterworks Orchestras. Mrs. Peterson’s home is Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where she is currently the Director of Orchestras for the Marquette Area Public Schools. During her 34 years in that position, the number of high school strings has grown from 9 to 90 players and the groups have been selected for numerous honors including performances at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival, Midwestern Music Educators’ Conference, EPCOT Center and the Kennedy Center. She has also performed with her students in Boston, Toronto, Hawaii, Germany and France. Mrs. Peterson has held conductor positions at Northern Michigan University, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the Pine Mountain Music Festival and has served as a guest conductor for various groups including the 1999 Alaska State Honors Orchestra. She has also been an active member of the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association and the Michigan American String Teachers’ Association. She is currently the MASTA Northern Initiatives representative. “Top academic seniors” have selected Mrs. Peterson many times as Most Influential Educator and in the past decade, Ms. Peterson was awarded MSBOA Orchestra Teacher of the Year, Marquette Teacher of the Year, Michigan American Legion Teacher of the Year, Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year and UP Teacher of the Year. She has many former students playing in professional ensembles and teaching at the college level. Current and former students make up a majority of the string sections in the Marquette Symphony Orchestra for which Mrs. Peterson serves as rehearsal conductor, concertmaster and co-founder. 2012 will mark her first tour with the Blue Lake International Youth Symphony Orchestra. |
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