Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra plays final fall session

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - The Mankato Area Youth Symphony Orchestra (MAYSO) completed its fall session with multiple concerts this weekend.

The weekend started with a concert at Maple River High School, and finished at Mankato East.

The orchestra’s reach spans a nine-county area, and leaders say that concert series like these aim to bring musical opportunities to communities that otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to perform in an orchestra.

“The outstate part of Minnesota is underserved compared to the metro area,” said David Stordalen of MAYSO. “And so one of the goals with the Culture Heritage Fund is to get some of that money out into our areas here and into the rural areas.”

The orchestra is largely funded by the Culture Heritage Fund through the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council.

The program serves kids from 15 communities among Mankato and surrounding areas.

This weekend’s concerts were the culmination of nine weeks of preparation, with kids only being able to rehearse for one hour each Sunday, and orchestra leaders say that they couldn’t be happier with the results of the work that each student put in throughout the entire season.

“We do have a very short amount of time to prepare our concerts when compared to school programs, and so they’re working between our rehearsals, at home, preparing,” said Mark Wamma of MAYSO. “And I think they’ve done a wonderful job every time we have a performance.”

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