Activities
Members of the Orchestra take part in a full range of activities, both musical and social. The Junior Orchestra participates in these activities in a way appropriate to their age level.
 Rehearsals
Rehearsals take place each Sunday from September to May, with some exceptions for public holidays etc. They are held in the Noël-Legault Centre, 245 Lakeshore, Pointe-Claire (map), a property owned by the City of Pointe-Claire.
The Senior Orchestra rehearses from 2 to 5 p.m., and the Junior Orchestra from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon. In addition to full orchestra rehearsals led by the conductor, there are occasional sectionals led by outside professionals.
Music Camps
Every year the musicians spend a full weekend at a music camp, where they are exposed to an intensive period
of rehearsing, interspersed with various social activities. This allows Orchestra members to bond while
giving them many hours of quality musical training.
For the Senior Orchestra, this camp takes place in early fall and for the past few years has been held at the Orford Arts Centre.
The Junior Orchestra camp takes place in late winter at an area youth camp such as Cap St. Jacques or Ile Perrot.
Concerts
All Orchestra activities are aimed towards performing in public.
The Senior Orchestra gives about 10 concerts a year. Three of these form the orchestra core concert series. The rest are for the benefit of various charities. Recent recipients include Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and the Stearns Institute of the Douglas Hospital. Every year the orchestra plays for the West Island Community Shares, an important local fundraising agency for local charities. On June 24 every year the Orchestra plays outdoors at the St Jean Baptiste celebrations in one of the West Island municipalities.
The Junior Orchestra performs its own concerts during the year and joins with the Senior Orchestra for the annual end-of-season concert, part of the core series.
Please see the list of concerts for the current season.
Chamber music ensembles
Several small ensembles, such as string quartets and duos, wind ensembles and brass quintets, are formed from the members of the Senior Orchestra. These ensembles rehearse separately from the main orchestra and give public and private performances, in addition to performing at the Orchestra's concerts. In recent years they have performed at Fairview Shopping Centre and at the annual opening of Bois-de-Liesse park.
To find out about hiring one of the Orchestra's ensembles for an event, please contact WIYSO.
Music Festivals
Every two years WIYSO attends the music festival organized by
the Association des orchestres des jeunes du Québec (AOJQ)
in Laval. This festival brings together youth orchestras from Quebec
and Ontario for three intensive days of rehearsals and performances
under the leadership of guest conductors from around the world.
In recent years WIYSO has had an opportunity to play under the direction
of Marc David, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Dominique
Fanal.
The Junior Orchestra has taken part in festivals in Joliette, and most recently in the Mhairi Thomson-Tessier Stringfest at McGill University.
Travel and Exchanges
As a part of its mandate of exposing young musicians to as wide a musical experience as possible WIYSO takes part in various trips and exchanges.
In 1995, and again in 2001, the Orchestra traveled to France
to take part in the Festival des Orchestrades Universelles de
Brive-La-Gaillarde. Then in 2004, as part of an exchange with
the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra, the Orchestra traveled to Saskatchewan
and Banff, Alberta.
In summer 2008, the Orchestra went on a 12-day European Tour which took the musicians
and their artistic director on an unforgettable experience to the Czech Republic, Austria and
Italy, where they performed in some of the most prestigious locations in the world.
Plans are in the works to attend a music festival in Provence in summer 2011.
In addition, the Orchestra has held several exchanges in the past few years with the Ottawa Youth Orchestra, rehearsing and then playing joint concerts in the West Island and in Ottawa.
Music Appreciation
An essential part of playing classical music is understanding it. Several times a year, Pierre Rose, an experienced musicologist, presents music appreciations sessions featuring audio-visual presentations on the pieces the Orchestra is currently rehearsing and their composers.
Concerto Competition
Every year in February, as a part of an intensive rehearsal day, the Orchestra holds a Concerto Competition. This is open to all the Senior Orchestra musicians, who play a concerto of their choice in front of their peers and an invited adjudicator. The winners of this competition are then invited to play as soloists at a WIYSO concert the following year.
Other Activities
The Orchestra holds various fundraising campaigns each year. Recently the Giant Garage Sale and Used Book Sale and a Wine Raffle have been the main fundraisers.
For added fun, the year is punctuated by Christmas and end-of-year parties, and group visits to professional concerts and operas.
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