Biography
Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra
Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra
Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra is recognized as an outstanding Bay Area music program, receiving numerous awards from ASCAP. The Youth Orchestra presents several classical and outreach concerts each season. Consisting of nearly 90 talented students (ages 12–22) from 46 schools and more than 30 cities, the Youth Orchestra is open by audition to all qualified young people from Bay Area schools. No musician is excluded for reasons of financial need.
Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra maintains a commitment to cultural exchange through international tours every three years. Touring destinations have included many countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, as well as the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Mexico, Cuba, Australia, and New Zealand.
Omid Zoufonoun, Music Director
Omid Zoufonoun, music director of the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, is a conductor, guitarist, educator, and award-winning composer. His musical commissions aim to blend his Persian musical heritage, learned under the guidance of his father Ostad Mahmoud Zoufonoun, with Western practices of counterpoint, harmony, and orchestration. Recent commissions include a cello sonata for the duet Martha & Monica, a guitar octet for the Guitar Foundation of America, a choral setting of four Rumi poems for the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, and a four-movement orchestral work for the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra. He conducted the premiere of this latter work at the Scottish Rite Temple, and a professional premiere followed by the Oakland East Bay Symphony under the direction of Michael Morgan. As a conductor, Mr. Zoufonoun’s recent recording of Bill Horvitz’s suite A Long Walk was featured as an Editor’s Pick in Downbeat magazine.
Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra is recognized as an outstanding Bay Area music program, receiving numerous awards from ASCAP. The Youth Orchestra presents several classical and outreach concerts each season. Consisting of nearly 90 talented students (ages 12–22) from 46 schools and more than 30 cities, the Youth Orchestra is open by audition to all qualified young people from Bay Area schools. No musician is excluded for reasons of financial need.
Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra maintains a commitment to cultural exchange through international tours every three years. Touring destinations have included many countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, as well as the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Mexico, Cuba, Australia, and New Zealand.
Omid Zoufonoun, Music Director
Omid Zoufonoun, music director of the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, is a conductor, guitarist, educator, and award-winning composer. His musical commissions aim to blend his Persian musical heritage, learned under the guidance of his father Ostad Mahmoud Zoufonoun, with Western practices of counterpoint, harmony, and orchestration. Recent commissions include a cello sonata for the duet Martha & Monica, a guitar octet for the Guitar Foundation of America, a choral setting of four Rumi poems for the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, and a four-movement orchestral work for the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra. He conducted the premiere of this latter work at the Scottish Rite Temple, and a professional premiere followed by the Oakland East Bay Symphony under the direction of Michael Morgan. As a conductor, Mr. Zoufonoun’s recent recording of Bill Horvitz’s suite A Long Walk was featured as an Editor’s Pick in Downbeat magazine.
