NOTES 2024: Youth Symphony

Dear Reader,

This is my 6th year playing the cello with the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras (EYSO), a student-based musical ensemble organization consisting of level-based ensembles serving the areas of Elgin, IL, to beyond the Greater Chicago Area here in Illinois. EYSO is collecting donations as part of our annual fundraising campaign: NOTES. This campaign runs from March 24 to May 5, 2024. With a goal of $56,450, the purpose of the NOTES is to help keep EYSO tuition affordable for all aspiring young musicians such as myself. NOTES encourages EYSO families to collect donations from friends, family, co-workers, neighbors--and you! All contributions to the EYSO are tax deductible, as allowable by law.

As I stated, this is my 6th year playing the cello with EYSO, and my 10th year studying/playing the cello as a whole. Ever since I started playing the cello, I have been fascinated with the instrument, how it functions, and the many opportunities you can take advantage of with the cello. I then signed up for many activities relating to music and the cello, and I was fascinated with the endless possibilities with the interaction of the instrument from the joy, or the instantaneous, emotional connections the music can give to audiences from the young to the elderly! That determined me, even more, to get involved in summer camp programs including CREDO Chicago 2023 last year, practicing chamber, orchestral & solo repertoire with strength and endurance, and accomplishing notable musical achievements such as receiving an assistant principal cello role in EYSO’s Terra nostra concert season and winning EYSO’s 2022-23 Philharmonia Young Artists Concerto Competition as an 8th-grade and freshman student level! This encourages me to resort to rigorous practice wherever I am, even when spending time on vacation!

Becoming a donor to the NOTES campaign would not only benefit student musicians within any ensemble level within EYSO through a more diverse selection of repertoire, instrument equipment, and high-quality music educators from around the Chicagoland area to engage with the EYSO but also to inspire and encourage early, young musicians who could be picking up an instrument for the first time in their lives to possibly engage in a musical journey, landing them in music performance or non-music performance careers. The campaign can financially assist families in need to receive the necessary aid for their children to continue a potential hobby/interest.

The campaign runs from March 24 to May 5, 2024. This donation would also not only further define why I am in an ensemble that can run with an enormous budget (roughly 1.2 million dollars to maintain this 501(c)(3) nonprofitable organization every consecutive and growing depending on the student population size, this year is over 400+ students) to cater to musicians all around the Chicagoland area, but for many who require financial necessities for program tuition, instruments costs, and more within the Elgin Youth Symphonies.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Chang

Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras

Cello | Youth Symphony Ensemble