The Glendale Youth Orchestra was founded in 1989 to provide an opportunity for dedicated young musicians to perform great orchestral repertoire in a professional venue. Over the last thirty years, the orchestra has evolved from a small neighborhood ensemble into one of the best youth orchestras in Los Angeles County. Under the baton of Brad Keimach, the GYO music director and conductor for the past 19 years, the Glendale Youth Orchestra was one of two orchestras chosen to be a Premier Los Angeles Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in the Youth Orchestra Mentorship Program. The GYO is proud to call Glendale's Alex Theater its home, but it has also performed in the prestigious Disney Hall. The orchestra is renowned for consistent excellence and inspiring, passionate performances.

Students who have played in the Glendale Youth Orchestra have been accepted into some of the most prestigious and renowned conservatories and universities, including: Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Peabody, San Francisco Conservatory, Oberlin, Rice, MIT, Harvard, and Stanford. Orchestra members are chosen through a process of merit-based auditions, as the orchestra strongly believes that all students should have access to the life-changing power of music.

Our beloved conductor of 19 years, Brad Keimach, retired at the end of the 2019 Season. Mr. Keimach at his retirement was given the title of Conductor Emeritus. The 2019-2020 season marks the beginning of a new era with a new Music Director and Conductor. Henry Shin was selected from a very competitive field to lead the Glendale Youth Orchestra. Mr. Shin is known for his “keen sense of timing, charisma, and leadership,” and is steadily building a reputation as one of the most “versatile conductors of his generation.” We look forward to Henry’s unique musical voice and impressive educational talents as he leads the GYO into the future.

 

Henry Shin

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Beginning with the 2019-2020 season, Henry Shin will embark on a new journey as the music director and conductor of the Glendale Youth Orchestra. 

Since 2015, Mr. Shin also serves as Director of Orchestras at Pasadena City College. A strong proponent of bringing music to underserved youth in Los Angeles, he is the music director and conductor of the nationally-acclaimed Harmony Project Orchestras, Hollywood, the Valley Philharmonic Orchestra in Porter Ranch, and with the Kadima Conservatory Philharmonic in Pacoima. For 7 years, Mr. Shin also served as the assistant conductor of the Elizabeth Mandell Music Institute (EMMI) Chamber Orchestra at the prestigious Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica. 

Prior to his arrival in Los Angeles, Mr. Shin served as assistant conductor of the San Francisco Civic Symphony and with the University Symphony Orchestra at UC Berkeley. For almost 10 years, he served as music director and conductor of the UC Berkeley Summer Symphony. He has also been music director of the San Francisco Arts Education Project’s Event Players, a premiere children’s musical theater troupe, leading sold-out performances of Carousel, Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma!, and On the Town.  

In 2009, Mr. Shin gained international recognition when he was a prizewinner at the prestigious International Competition for Young Conductors in Besançon, France – notable alumni to include Seiji Ozawa and Osmo Vänskä.

Mr. Shin has studied conducting with David Milnes, John Barnett, Carl St.Clair, and Neal Stulberg, among others. He has also worked alongside Kurt Masur, James Conlon, Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier, Daniel Lewis, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski. In 2006, he received the Alfred Hertz Memorial Traveling Fellowship, allowing him to be a conducting apprentice at the Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar in Germany. Mr. Shin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from UC Berkeley, his Masters degree in conducting from the USC Flora L. Thornton School of Music, and currently completing his doctoral studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. 

Check out our videos on our GYO YouTube channel!