Absence Form Program * Required Junior Youth Orchestra Honors Orchestra Orchestra in the Schools Thank you! Submit

Youth Music Monterey County supports two orchestras, a chamber music program, a brass ensemble, a woodwind ensemble, and in-school teaching and performance opportunities. Our Junior Youth and Honors Orchestras are led by conductor Maestro Danko Druško and feature approximately 100 student musicians. Come Play With Us! Orchestra in the Schools Registration Closes 9/15 Youth Music Monterey County Building the next generation through music Established in 1988, it has been Youth Music Monterey County's mission for over thirty years to inspire excellence in individual students and enrich our community by providing young people with opportunities to participate in, and gain greater understanding of, music and its performance. Play With Us! Featuring talented young musicians from over 30 local schools, YMMC's Junior Youth and Honors Orchestras present three acclaimed symphonic concerts at Sunset Center each year. Auditions for the Junior Youth and Honors Orchestras take place throughout the season. If you’re interested in auditioning please contact office@youthmusicmonterey.org or fill out an audition form . Orchestra In The Schools offers Monterey County children in grades 3-8 in Monterey County an opportunity to learn an instrument, be part of an orchestra and perform with students from other schools. This can be your child’s first musical experience, no experience is necessary. Three chamber music programs, including the Chamber Players , Brass Ensemble , and Woodwind Ensemble , focus on the intensive study of small-group music and give back to their communities through benefit concerts. Our South County Strings program with over 200 students each year in rural South Monterey County communities with free group string instruction and low-cost instrument rentals. About Us Upcoming Events From the Edge of Reality Sun, Nov 01 Sunset Center Join us as our Junior Youth and Honors Orchestras take you on a journey to the far end of human imagination. Buy Tickets Dreams and Drama Sun, Feb 28 Sunset Center Our Junior Youth & Honors Orchestra students guide you through an adventure from the crossroads of music and dramatic theater. Buy Tickets A Home Away from Home Sun, May 09 Sunset Center Join us on this special final concert of the 2026-2027 season as our Junior Youth and Honors Orchestra students guide you on a journey of familiarity and belonging, where regional traditions meet the orchestra. Buy Tickets News Welcome Our New Executive Director, Candis Badgley Carlson Jul 27 Join us at Carmel Bach Festival's Family Concert: Saturday, July 18th at 11:00 am Jul 17 YMM Alumni Spotlight: Ealaph Tabbaa Selected for Hidden Valley Music Seminars' Emerging Composers Intensive Jul 2

Administrative Staff Executive Director Candis Badgley Carlson Administrative Coordinator Indi McCarthy Artistic Staff Music Director Alan Truong South County Strings Director Miriam Oddie Brass Ensemble Director Suzanne Mudge Chamber Players Aleksey Klyushnik Director, Woodwind Chamber Ensembles Igor Poklad

Angel Levels Angel - Two Dress Circle Tickets to Sunset Center orchestral performances annually - Invitations to after Sunset Center concert receptions - Invitations to the Annual Angel Appreciation Event Read More Archangel This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Read More Rainforest Action Initiative This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Read More Renewable Energy Program This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Read More

Vince Gomez Conductor Back to Staff

seniors & awards 2020 One of the finest year-end traditions at YMM is to recognize the incredible work and effort of our graduating seniors, volunteers, teachers, and alumni. There are so many people who volunteer, working quietly behind the scenes to keep YMMC moving forward and assisting our students in so many ways. We salute Patricia Morgan, our Volunteer of the Year, who drives students from King City to rehearsals and back home each week. This year's Teacher of the Year is Sarah Wadsworth, music teacher at Carmel M.S., who runs a great program and is devoted to her students and their learning. Our Alumna of the Year Award goes to Kelly Wong, who designed and maintains the new YMMC website. She says: YMMC has invariably been a major source of emotional reprieve, human connection, and lifelong friendships for me and my fellow musicians. When I joined YMMC, I never expected to also be joining a tightly-knit family of musicians from all walks of life. From trading laughs with the brass section, to sprinting home last-minute for forgotten black concert socks with some violinists, to letting dinner go cold and sharing stories till dawn with people I now consider my best friends, I cherish every relationship I’ve forged in these orchestras. When I look back at my adventures within the concert halls, it’s not the standing ovations I remember, and it’s not the bad notes that stick. It’s the experiences I’ve amassed and the people I’ve loved. It’s the arresting notion that, maybe, something more beautiful about ourselves emerges in our wake. Though its members come and go with the years, I dearly love this organization and its indefatigable spirit of community, and I’m incredibly lucky to continue to be a part of it as it enters a new era. Student Awards Daisy Swanson The Ruth Philips Fenton Founder's Award Lance Yang Bauer The Pam and Chuck McGowin Award Justin Vu The Adel and Adelya Award Class of 2020 Seniors Farewell and congratulations to our Class of 2020! We're honored to have played with you and wish you well in your coming journey. Here's what some of them will be up to in the fall: Akshara Amin Violin Monterey High School '20 Lance Yang Bauer Violin Stevenson School '20 Emory University, double major in Music & Philosophy, Politics, and Law Ryan Knight Trumpet Carmel High School '20 University of the Pacific, major in Biological Sciences, minor in Jazz Studies Daisy Swanson Violin York School '20 Bob Cole Conservatory of CSU Long Beach, double major in Marine Biology and Music Helen Liuyi Yang Viola Stevenson School '20 Wellesley College, Economics & Sociology Mitali Chowdhury Bassoon Pacific Grove High School '20 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computation & Cognition Annabelle Norman Violin York School '20 Justin Vu Violin York School '20 Pepperdine University, major in Sports Medicine and minor in Music

Become an Angel! Welcome! We're thrilled that you've decided to join us. The Angel Network is a family of devoted music supporters whose annual gifts help sustain the availability of our unparalleled music education programs. You can fill out the application below to pay online, or contact the office to pay by cash or check. Learn More More Ways to Give Youth Music Monterey County is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN 94-2863607). Contributions are tax-deductible by law. Donorbox form

Brass Ensemble The 2019-2020 Brass Ensemble. The YMMC Brass Ensemble, directed by Executive Director and Brass Director Suzanne Mudge , offers a great opportunity for its members to experience personal growth and increased confidence. The ensemble plays varied repertoire of many genres spanning four centuries in several configurations of 3-8 players. Playing in small chamber groups develops focus, creativity, and discipline. while building problem-solving, teamwork, and leadership skills. These characteristics grow a confident child and accomplished performer, and translate to excellent preparation for the challenges of college, career, and life. The YMMC Brass Ensemble actively seeks collaborations and performing opportunities, making connections with our community, and educating and engaging new audiences. We have performed for assisted living communities across the Monterey Peninsula, the Tor House Garden Party, the Carmel Public Library Foundation, and for Carmel Bach Festival off-season events such as Cottages and Gardens and Season previews. Members have also been invited to perform with the Tower Brass during the Bach Festival in July. We host guest artists and clinicians from the brass world, learning from them and increasing the appreciation and joy of being a brass player. All brass students enrolled in YMMC orchestras are eligible – and encouraged – to participate in the Brass Ensemble. There is no additional fee for participation. Learn more about auditioning and becoming a part of the Brass Ensemble today! Audition

South County Strings Call (831) 375-1992 for Registration Information Youth Music Monterey's South County Strings program brings free instruction and string instruments to students in grades 3-8 in southern Monterey County. A team of music instructors provides violin, viola, and cello instruction in group lessons during the school day. Students are not charged for the lessons and instruments are provided by YMMC. Music classes begin in September and run throughout the school year through June. The program is designed to introduce new students to music and string instruments and to help intermediate students develop their skills. Students receive a minimum of two hours of instruction per week, give in-school and after-school performances for their peers, and perform at community venues. Students also receive free or subsidized tickets to concerts throughout Monterey County and attend workshops with visiting musicians—such as the YMMC Chamber Players, who visit the schools to perform for and work with young string students. Youth Music Monterey's South County Strings program is a partnership with the Soledad Unified School District and Bradley Union School District to provide students to study cello, viola, and violin in areas where music education and performance opportunities are sparse.

Alyze Rabideau South County Strings Director Alyze Rabideau received a Bachelors of Music Degree in Music Composition from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. During her time at the Blair School of Music, she studied violin with Jessica Blackwell, percussion with Ji-Hye Jung and Kwame Ahima, and composition with Michael Slayton and Michael Alec Rose. Alyze has also worked with distinguished composers including Joan Tower, Jack Stamp, Elliot Schwartz, and Elizabeth Austin. Her music has been performed throughout the United States as well as in Austria, Italy, France, Nepal, Kenya, and Spain. Prior to her current role as the South County Strings Director with Youth Music Monterey, Alyze taught English in Benin, West Africa as a member of the United States Peace Corps. In addition to teaching in the classroom, she created after school music clubs at multiple schools and a national summer camp for English and gender equality, Camp SPEAK. Before her move to Benin, Alyze worked at the W.O. Smith Music School, where she taught private lessons on violin, percussion, and saxophone and was the conductor for the StringSmiths String Orchestra. She also served as concertmaster for the W. O. Smith Faculty Orchestra. Currently, Alyze teaches violin and music theory at Monterey County Home Charter School. She enjoys cooking, hiking, and playing music with her four siblings, all of whom are string musicians. Back to Staff

Administrative Staff Candis Badgley Carlson Executive Director Clarinetist Candis Badgley Carlson enjoys a multifaceted career as a sought-after chamber musician, educator, freelancer, and arts administrator. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director at Youth Music Monterey County. Previously, she has been the Woodwinds Teaching Artist with Youth Orchestra Salinas as well as a faculty member at California State University Northridge, teaching clarinet and chamber music. In demand as a chamber musician, Candis has performed with numerous chamber groups, including the LA Chamber Music Company, the Felici Trio, N’Cinq Woodwind Quintet, Exploration Music Project, CSUN ChamberFest, and most recently with the Monterey County Pops Woodwind Quintet. Ms. Badgley Carlson also founded Valley Chamber Ensembles, a Los Angeles-based non-profit that strives to enrich the community by providing an experience and an education through chamber music. Through four seasons, she programmed several unique concerts and became a grantee of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. An active orchestral musician, Ms. Badgley Carlson has performed with several orchestras including OperaSLO, Mission Opera, Lompoc Pops Orchestra, Ventura Symphony Orchestra, Sierra Nevada Pops Orchestra, Valencia Philharmonic, Moorpark Ballet Company, Monterey County Pops, and I Cantori di Carmel. She performed as a soloist with the CSUN Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the 2016 Concerto Competition. Additionally, Candis has recorded for motion pictures, several short films, and can be heard on the Marks Record recording “Music from the Heart from the Heartland.” Additional experience includes recording for the BMI program Uni Music Mentors with Emmy-nominated composers Cindy O’Connor, Rebecca Kneubuhl, and Tony Morales. Most recently she can be heard on bass clarinet on the motion picture soundtrack SICK. Ms. Badgley Carlson received her Bachelor of Music from Wichita State University under Dr. Suzanne Tirk and her Master of Music from California State University Northridge under Dr. Julia Heinen. Back to Staff

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