Peninsula Youth Orchestra

The Peninsula Youth Orchestra organization, founded in 1997, is musical home to over 420 student musicians that comprise four full orchestras plus numerous chamber music ensembles.  The senior-high PYO, under the direction of Mitchell Sardou Klein, has toured extensively and received the prestigious 2000 ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming of American Music on Foreign Tour for their Japan Tour.  PYO was named Showcase Orchestra at the Australian International Music Festival held at the Sydney Opera House in 2001, toured Northern Italy in 2003, and in 2005 performed concerts in Southern France and Spain. During 2007, in conjunction with PYO's 10th anniversary celebration, the orchestra toured Eastern Europe, performing in world-famous Dvorak Hall and Liszt Academy.  PYO performed in Paris, Normandy, Brugges, and Amsterdam during its summer 2009 tour, and in 2011 toured Southern England, performing in Cheltenham, Oxford, and London.  The organization also maintains three full preparatory orchestras, directed by Sara Salsbury, of which the Young Artists is the most advanced.