PENDLETON — The Oregon East Symphony Youth Orchestra will present their free spring concert at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 18 at the Vert Auditorium, 480 SW Dorion Ave.

They will be joined by the beginner level Preludes Orchestra. The concert will be followed by a reception in the Vert Clubroom downstairs.

There will be a casual encore performance by both ensembles at the Pendleton Farmer’s Market at 5:30 p.m., Friday, May 19, on Main Street in Pendleton.

Both performances are free for the public.

The intermediate level OES Youth Orchestra, under the direction of OES Education Director Zach Banks, will perform arrangements of Gustav Holst’s “Brook Green Suite,” Johann Strauss’s “Emperor Waltz,” Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from the Disney film “Encanto.”

The beginner level Preludes Orchestra, under the direction of OES Assistant Concertmaster Viet Block with assistance from Erin Storey, will perform arrangements of “Ronde,” Jay Unger’s “Ashokan Farewell” as featured in the Ken Burns docuseries “The Civil War,” and the Canadian folk song “Land of the Silver Birch.”

Symphony Strings

Students from the Symphony Strings program will also present their end-of-year performance at the Thursday concert at the Vert Auditorium.

Symphony Strings is a collaborative program between OES and the Pendleton School District to provide beginner-level group instruction on string instruments (violin, viola, cello) for Pendleton area fourth and fifth grade students. Students in Symphony Strings learn basic playing technique on an instrument of their choice, elementary music reading and how to play in a string ensemble.

Support

The OES Youth Orchestra’s Spring Concert is made possible with the support of Pendleton Rotary Club, Banner Bank Pendleton, Carolyn Frasier, Bill Taylor and Wildhorse Foundation.

For more information on the Oregon East Symphony’s education and concert programming, or to make a donation in support of OES’s education programming, visit www.OregonEastSymphony.org, call 541-276-0320, or email info@oregonEastSymphony.org.