Events

BILLINGS SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA FALL CONCERT 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2024, 4PM 

1. PATRICK CO-CATHEDRAL

Barb Kirk, Preludio Strings Director 

Kristi Kazmierski, Concert Orchestra Director 

Lindsey Selman, Young Artist Orchestra Director 

Randy Tracy, Repertory Orchestra Director 

Sue Logan, Repertory Winds Coach 

Series Sponsor: Kampgrounds of America Foundation 

We closed out our 16th season with a spring in our step, and a diverse set of concerts, stages, venues, and events! The end of our Spring began with our biannual Youth Orchestra Concert, ironically ending with Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished”. The next day, our students went on tour to Lockwood and Canyon Creek schools for our students to bring their music to our community. We reached over 1000 students! Later in the month, we held our second session of the Youth Chamber Project, with a large crowd of families and friends in the audience supporting their loved ones. We are thrilled to begin our 17th season, where we introduce our Youth Percussion ensemble, with Billings Symphony Section Percussionist, Kyle Melugin, as our director for the group. We’re excited for another member of the Billings Symphony to join our Youth Orchestra team and look forward to growing a skilled crop of young drummers. Buckle up, we’re in for another educational and bright season! 

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS 

RANDY TRACY | REPERTORY ORCHESTRA DIRECTOR SPONSORED BY BARB CURRY 

Mr. Tracy began his professional performance career in high school, and received his musical training in Colorado, New York, and the Aspen and Tanglewood music festivals. He continues to be active as a teacher, soloist, conductor, chamber musician, and orchestra violinist. Currently the Concertmaster of the Billings Symphony, other associations past and present include the Denver Symphony, Fort Collins Symphony, Red Lodge Chamber Players, Red Lodge Music Festival, Yellowstone Chamber Players, and New Harmony Music Festival. His band Glynfiddle is known for spirited renditions of traditional Irish and Scottish tunes. He teaches at Rocky Mountain College and Montana State University Billings, and his private violin studio has produced many award- and scholarship-winning students. A native of the Rocky Mountain West, Mr. Tracy chose this area as his permanent home. 

LINDSEY SELMAN | YOUNG ARTIST ORCHESTRA DIRECTOR SPONSORED BY MICHAEL AND CAMILLE CARL 

A Yellowstone County native, Lindsey Selman began her musical studies at the age of five. In 2010, she earned a BA in church music with an emphasis on violin performance from Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, and has spent several years involved in church music, performing, directing, recording, and leading workshops across the US, Canada, and Russia. In addition to BSYO, Lindsey also performs and teaches with several other local organizations, including the Billings Symphony and Stillwater String Quartet, and maintains a studio of private students. 

KRISTI KAZMIERSKI | CONCERT ORCHESTRA DIRECTOR 

Kristi Kazmierski is a violinist with the Billings Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and has played with them since 1993. She has been studying violin since age 4 and performs with several professional symphonies and ensembles in the Rocky Mountain region. Kristi has collaborated with Mannheim Steamroller, Jewel, Disturbed, Kenny Loggins, Weird Al Yankovic, The Fifth Dimension, Cirque Musica, and others. She frequently performs with Grant Ferguson and the Modern Rock Orchestra. She loves volunteering to bring music to schools, retirement homes, and public events. She has maintained a private music studio since 1995, teaching violin and sharing her passion for music. Raised in Hardin and Billings, she enjoyed horsemanship, cattle work, and sports. A graduate of Billings Senior High, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Montana State University Billings. 

BARBARA KIRK | PRELUDIO STRINGS DIRECTOR 

Barb has always lived a life immersed in music. A member of the Billings Symphony since ninth grade, she plays regularly in orchestras throughout Montana and Wyoming, and has, thus, had the pleasure of performing with a plethora of diverse artists, including Red Skelton, Glen Campbell, Chet Atkins, Tom Jones, Doc Severinsen, Moody Blues, Wynonna Judd, Kansas, and Mannheim Steamroller. Some of the highlights of her career are playing in the Helena Summer Symphony with Mark O’Connor, and performing with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Joshua Bell, and Evelyn Glennie with the Great Falls Symphony. She received her bachelor’s degree in music education from MSU-Billings and her master’s degree in teaching from Grand Canyon University, and since 1970, has maintained a private violin studio. She is honored to be a part of BSYO. 

SUE LOGAN | REPERTORY WINDS COACH SPONSORED BY BARB CURRY 

Principal oboist with the Billings Symphony Orchestra, and freelancer with other Montana and Wyoming orchestras, Ms. Logan is adjunct music faculty at both Rocky Mountain College and MSU-Billings and maintains a private oboe studio. Ms. Logan is also on the faculty of the Red Lodge Music Festival. Her chamber music performances with the RLMF faculty and the Yellowstone Chamber Players have been broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today. Ms. Logan earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Oboe Performance from the Juilliard School in New York City. Her first experience playing in a youth orchestra was when she was 13 years old, and she later toured Switzerland with the Northern Virginian Youth Orchestra. Coaching the BSYO winds is a way to pass her love of playing orchestral and chamber music on to the next generation of musicians. 

BSYO Conductors:

Barb Kirk | Preludio Strings Director

Kristi Kazmierski | Concert Orchestra Director

Lindsey Selman | Young Artist Orchestra Director

Randy Tracy | Repertory Orchestra Director

Sue Logan | Repertory Winds Coach

The concert runs approximately 90 minutes long, with brief musical interludes by Repertory Winds students between orchestras.

Whenever you want! Seriously, the tradition of clapping only at the end of pieces was only for a short time in the history of music. Typically, people like to clap after a great solo in a jazz tune, an impressive dance move, or after a great movement (section) in a symphony. If you really like a piece, clap at the end of the movement and yell "encore" if you want to hear more. (We love playing encores!)

Admission is free and seating is available on first come, first served basis. Donations are accepted and encouraged!

More than anything, we want you to have fun and express your own style when you come to the Billings Symphony, so dress in a way that works for you. Some people love dressing up and going out—if that’s you, do it and you won’t be the only one, we promise. If you prefer to be more casual, then you probably won’t be the only one dressed casually, either. In short, you do you, and we’re just glad you’re joining us.

Ample free parking is available in the main parking lot in front of the high school. Several handicap parking spaces are available.