Weekend pick: Youth Orchestras of Fresno celebrates 75th anniversary with an 1812 Overture that will boom throughout the audience

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The concert will feature three orchestras: the Youth Chamber, Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, which include about 250 students. For the final piece, Berlioz’s monumental Symphonie fantastique, nearly 50 of our alums will join the top orchestra, the YOOF Philharmonic.

“Last weekend several alums joined us during the rehearsal and seeing them join our current students brought tears to my eyes and I cannot imagine what it will feel like seeing so many return for the gala performance. I think that the fact that so many will join us is a testimony of how important this organization is to our town.”

More from my chat with Loewenheim:

Q: For Juan Pablo’s commissioned piece, titled “My Dream,” what can you tell me about it? Will he be there? Tell us a little about his relationship with the orchestra.

A: Our relationship with Juan Pablo Contreras goes back many years. I still remember the first time the former Consul of the Mexican Consulate introduced him to me before our first collaboration over ten years ago. Later, we were among the first orchestras to perform his piece Mariachitlan, which he wrote when he was still a student and has now been performed by many of the top orchestras in the United States and abroad. After that performance I remember asking him to write his first symphony and dedicate it to us. We stayed in touch over the years, and I kept reminding him that he promised to write his first symphony for us. Since then, his reputation grew tremendously, and he is now a three-time Latin GRAMMY®-nominated composer, and his pieces have been performed by orchestras all over the world.

When our 75th anniversary came closer I contacted Juan Pablo again and was honored that he agreed to write his first symphony for us for this special occasion. Juan Pablo will attend this weekend’s rehearsals and will be at the concert. I very much look forward to seeing him and to having him hear the world premiere of his first symphony.

[See the end of this story for Juan Pablo Contreras’ personal note about his symphony.]

Q: What do you think the founders of the YOOF would have thought 75 years ago if they could attend this concert?

A: They would be so proud of what YOOF has become over the years. The orchestras survived 75 years through many successes and some difficulties, the last one being Covid. It was just before our 70th anniversary when Covid hit, and we had to cancel all the activities five years ago. The fact that we are able to celebrate this year, with a group that is as large and as strong as we were before the pandemic, is a true testament to the power of music and the strength of our community.

Members of the Kiwanis Club, the original group that founded the Youth Orchestras of Fresno 75 years ago, will be at the concert and will present during the concert, honoring the past of our organization. From them I know how excited and proud they are of our youth and how impressed they have been with the continuous growth and excellence that the young musicians for the Central Valley are presenting.

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Q: Give us a sneak preview for summer.

This summer we will be presenting the Fresno Orchestra Summer Academy, also known as the FOOSA Festival, from June 15-29, 2025. FOOSA keeps growing and we have a record number of students registering for the festival. Faculty and students will travel from around the world to Fresno to work for two weeks and present a large number of concerts to our community.

The musical highlights for this year’s festival are Arnold Schoenberg’s Pelleas and Melisande, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Two incredible works that have changed the course of music in the 20th century. For the Disney Hall concert we will also feature the newly commissioned work for the Youth Orchestras 75th Anniversary, the Symphony No. 1 “My Great Dream” by Juan Pablo Contreras.

One of the exciting aspects of the festival is that in addition to all the concerts we will present at the Fresno State School of Music Concert Hall, we will also present our annual concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and at the Saroyan Theater in downtown Fresno.

Arnold Schoenberg was one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. He literally reimagined tonality and changed the course of music with his compositions. After escaping Europe during the second world war, he immigrated to Los Angeles, and we are extremely excited to have members of his family join us for the concert in Los Angeles.

I am very thankful for the ongoing support from Fresno State and the board of the Youth Orchestras of Fresno, as well as our many supporters and sponsors from the community who make FOOSA possible. I truly believe that FOOSA is making a huge impact on our community and is bringing world-class classical music to the central valley.

Important dates to remember for FOOSA:
• Friday, June 20: Concerto Competition Finals
• Saturday, June 21: Faculty Chamber Music Concert
• Friday, June 27: Disney Hall Concert of the FOOSA Philharmonic
• Sunday, June 29: Saroyan Concert of the FOOSA Philharmonic

Juan Pablo Contreras on ‘My Great Dream’

Nineteen years ago, I embarked on a journey to pursue “MyGreat Dream” of becoming an orchestral composer. Like so many, I left my native country in search of a life filled with music and possibility in the United States. The summer of 2025, when my recently completed Symphony No. 1 is set to premiere, will mark the moment when I will have lived half of my life in Mexico and half in the United States. This personal milestone inspired me to compose a symphony in four movements, each tracing a chapter of my path: dreaming of America, navigating the challenges of a new land, celebrating my heritage, and embracing my identity as a Mexican American composer with two motherlands.

The first of these movements, “Sueño Americano” (“American Dream”), evokes the longing and hope of a young composer seeking a musical life in a land where dreams take flight. The harp and crotales transport us to a dream-like world, while the orchestra hums a soft drone that seems to suspend time. A trumpet melody, first composed when I was eighteen as the theme of the orchestral work that opened the door to my music studies in the U.S., emerges like a fateful call from beyond. The movement weaves together quiet nostalgia for the Mexico I leave behind and vibrant jazz music that adds to the excitement of a new beginning. The second movement pays tribute to the first American genre I fell in love with: Heavy Metal — a fast-paced, intense music that mirrors the anxiety and displacement I felt upon arriving in the U.S. I dusted off my old Gibson Les Paul electric guitar and tuned its four lowest strings like a cello (C–G–D–A) to compose the chromatic riff that drives this movement. To transform the orchestra into a metal band, I added a drum set and had the musicians sing operatic “ha-ha”s. As the energy builds, the clarinet unleashes a wild solo, echoing the guitar wails of Metallica’s Kirk Hammett. But as the title suggests, moving to a new country carried a “Heavy Heart.” A glimpse of Mariachi music, born in my hometown of Guadalajara, expresses the homesickness I carried with me, but the Metal roars back and propels the movement to an epic close.

An uneasy brass chorale opens the third movement, embodying the uncertainty and the search for belonging, purpose, and identity in a new land. The strings respond with a nostalgic melody, and soon the bassoon begins to “sing” a Mexican bolero, lighting the path toward embracing my “Orgullo Mexicano” (“Mexican Pride”) to find my authentic voice as a composer. In America, I found a place where I could be myself and where my Mexican heritage was not only welcomed, but truly valued. The music then celebrates this newfound pride with an exuberant return of the Mariachi theme introduced in the previous movement. A feeling of doubt awakens the Metal music, but it is soon overtaken by a passionate rendition of the bolero, carrying us toward a sense of home and peace.

Every May 25 (the same date my Symphony is set to premiere!), musicians from San Diego and Tijuana meet at the border to take part in a day-long celebration of music and dance, known as the Fandango Fronterizo. For one day each year, music erases the divide, and my “Dos Patrias” (“Two Homelands”) feel like one. This spirit of brotherhood inspired me to write a fandango for the final movement of my Symphony. The timpani establishes the dance, and the winds introduce the main theme. It builds as the strings take it up, then the brass, until the entire orchestra joins in, eventually vocalizing gentle “oo”s in a choral expression of unity. The main themes from the previous movements return, driving the Symphony to a triumphant finale, a celebration of two homelands brought together through music and heart.

Symphony No. 1 “My Great Dream” is a tribute to my two homelands and is dedicated to all of those who bravely pursue the migrant dream.