Free lecture: Youth Orchestras and their impact in the Americas and Beyond

Carlos Izcaray, acting music director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO), will be giving a free lecture called “Youth Orchestras and their impact in the Americas and Beyond,” which will be held on Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. The lecture, emphasizing the importance and value of music among the youth, is open to the public and will be held at the Alabama School of Fine Arts in the school’s lecture hall. Interested parents and friends of the youth are encouraged to attend. Izcaray’s vision is to carry the vital message of social development through the musical instrument.

Izcaray, who has devoted much of his career to fostering support for youth orchestras, will discuss the impact of music education among the youth. The acclaimed ASO conductor has received international and domestic awards for his work and is also currently the active music director for the American Youth Symphony, an organization with an aim of continued support and development of classical music among youth in the modern world.  Venezuelan-born Izcaray entered his first youth orchestra at the age of 3 in Venezuela. “The flourishing of youth orchestra programs in Latin America has drawn excitement and praise from the international community, generating similar models in other parts of the world that aim to spread the message of music as an instrument for social development,” Izcaray said in a press release on the upcoming event.

For more information on the lecture, contact the ASO education office at 314-6936.