PSYO Mosaic Video Premieres

The Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra today released a mosaic video virtual performance of the dramatic final movement of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. Roger Kalia, who was Pacific Symphony’s associate conductor and music director of the PSYO for five years, conducted the ensemble remotely from his home.

Traveling to Indiana to assume his new position as music director of the Evansville Philharmonic, he took a moment to express his thoughts on the making of this video. “I am very proud of the wonderful musicians of PSYO for their exciting and powerful performance of the finale of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. We were all set to perform this work for our March concert, but unfortunately, we were unable to due to the pandemic. I didn’t want their countless hours of hard work and preparation to go unnoticed, and we decided that it would be extremely meaningful to showcase these talented musicians in a virtual performance of the finale.”

Kalia continued, “Musically, it’s one of the most impressive and emotional moments in all of classical music. There is a sense of triumph over adversity, which is very appropriate during this time. I am so proud of these outstanding young musicians, and while I wish we could have performed this work live in front of audiences in the OC and in Europe as part of our summer tour, I am so glad we could at least come together one last time in this special virtual performance.”

Watch the video here!