The Wichita Falls Youth Symphony Orchestra (YSO) was formed in 1992 by Gail Key to fulfill a community need to provide educational experiences for area students and encourage performance and an appreciation of classical music.  In 2004 the YSO moved into the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra offices at the Kemp Center for the Arts.

From the first season the orchestra has maintained an average of forty student musicians, ranging in age from junior high to high school students.  Occasionally, a particularly talented elementary-aged student will pass the audition.  Members of the YSO come from all junior high and senior high schools in Wichita Falls, as well as surrounding towns in northern Texas and southern Oklahoma.

The group rehearses once a week during the school year and gives two showcase concerts each year, free of charge to the public.  The YSO has also performed other community concerts, such as opening for the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, playing in association with the Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre, and playing at the “Arts Alive” Home and Garden Festival, Wichita Falls Heritage Days, the Kell House Museum and in surrounding communities.

Ensemble opportunities are also available within the YSO.  Past ensembles include brass ensemble, wind ensemble and string quartet.

Meet Our Conductor

Ed Hefti, a freelance musician, is the high school jazz ensemble band director in the Iowa Park Independent School District. He also has served as an adjunct faculty member at Midwestern State University with duties including private saxophone lessons, assisting with the MSU Jazz Ensemble and teaching improvisation. In the past, he has worked as a music educator in Navasota, Texas and Magnolia, Texas, as minister of music at First Baptist Church in ArcherCity, and as interim music minister at Lamar Baptist Church in Wichita Fallsand First Baptist Church in Iowa Park. Hefti has performed with numerous jazz artists and pop groups, such as Gregg Martinez and Rolling Thunder, Black Magic, Curtis Potter and the National Swing Band of Texas, the Four Tops, and with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He has also opened shows for the Fabulous Thunderbirds and BTO.