SYO Timeline

Schaumburg Youth Orchestra Timeline

• 1989 – Schaumburg Youth Orchestra is founded by the Village of Schaumburg as a recreational and educational outlet for young advanced musicians in the Schaumburg area.

• May 27, 1989 – The SYO, a string ensemble with 16 members, makes its public debut with a concert performance at Schaumburg's 1989 Prairie Arts Festival.

• Fall, 1991 – The offshoot Schaumburg Youth String Orchestra is formed to serve as a training group for the advanced Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra begins accepting wind, brass and percussion musicians.

• 1996 – The String Orchestra branches into two groups: the intermediate-level Schaumburg Youth Chamber Orchestra; and the Schaumburg Youth String Ensemble, geared for beginning grade school musicians.

• 1998 – Chamber Live!, a series of videotaped chamber ensemble performances, begins.

• 1999 – Chamber Live! Wins two national awards: first place in the Performing Arts Category of the 1999 the Alliance for Community Media Hometown Video Festival; and second place in the Performing Arts Category in the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) Programming Awards

• December, 1999 – The SYSO debuts the Presto! Holiday Concert, a tradition that continues to this day.

• June, 2000 – The SYSO (Schaumburg Youth Symphony Orchestra) embarks on its first overseas concert tour, performing in Germany and Austria.

• 2000 – The SYSO releases Birth of a Millennium, its first CD, which is distributed to newborn infants at area hospitals as part of the Village of Schaumburg's millennium celebration.

• 2001 – Schaumburg Youth Orchestra is awarded Youth Orchestra of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras.

• 2002 – The orchestra program initiates a fourth ensemble to again meet the demands of growing enrollment numbers.

• 2003 – The SYSO tours Japan, playing in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Schaumburg Sister City Namerikawa.

• 2004 – The SYSO commissions composer and conductor Robert Hanson to write Prairie Music.

• 2005 – The SYO tours Europe, playing in Prague, Vienna, Budapest.

• 2007 – The SYSO tours Italy, with stops including Rome, Venice, and Florence.

• 2008 – Schaumburg Youth Orchestra is awarded Youth Orchestra of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras.

• 2008 – The SYSO present a joint concert with the District 211 Honors Choir in a performance of the Faure Requiem.

• February 16, 2009 - Through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the SYSO presents "Salute to Abraham Lincoln," featuring a public performance and school show about the life and influence of the nation's 16th president.

• July 10, 2009 – The SYO celebrates its 20th anniversary with a gala concert at Chicago’s Symphony Center.

• 2011 – Through a grant by the National Endowment for the Arts, the SYSO presents a special concert of Dvorak’s 8th Symphony, narrated by radio host Bill McGlaughlin

• 2013 – The SYSO tours Paris and London.

• 2013 – The SYO launches its chamber ensemble program open to student musicians, performing twice a year at the Prairie Center.

• 2014 – Symphony Orchestra director Joseph Malmquist is awarded Youth Orchestra Conductor of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras.

• June 27, 2014 – The SYO celebrates its 25th anniversary with a gala concert at Chicago’s Symphony Center.

• 2015 – The SYSO presents Concert 1.0, a classical concert for children, featuring Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

• 2016 – The SYSO performs a featured concert at the Illinois Music Education Conference in Peoria, IL.

• 2019 – The SYSO hosts Do-It-Yourself Dvořák, a one-night rehearsal and performance of the New World Symphony with area student musicians and music teachers.

• 2019 – Concert 2.0 for young audiences is held. Like its predecessor, 2.0 featured an instrument petting zoo, orchestra hall selfie wall, and an opportunity for kids to conduct orchestra members in a passage of classical music.

• 2021 - Kevan Kosobayashi becomes director of Schaumburg Youth Symphony Orchestra, carrying on the legacy left by founding director Joseph Malmquist, who retired in 2020.

• October 30, 2022 - The Schaumburg Youth Symphony Orchestra performs the choral masterwork Brahms' Schicksalslied, its first collaboration with the newly formed Schaumburg Choral Artists, The concert is the fruition of decade-long effort to create a resident choir to partner regularly with the orchestra.

•  2025 – Assistant Director Rob Pileckis is awarded Executive/General Manager of the Year of the Schaumburg Youth Symphony by the Illinois Council of Orchestras.