2023 Electrify Your Symphony!
/Concert Ticket Price: $10 General Admission, Limit 2 per family until February 3rd
Did you buy your raffle ticket? We’ll be raffling off an exciting assortment of gifts from local vendors including a Mark Wood 5 string Stingray Violin/Viola complimentary of Schmitt Music, $300 gift card to House of Note, a $300 gift card to All Strings Attached, and more!
2023 EDINA ELECTRIFY YOUR SYMPHONY
CONCERT ORDER
We Will Rock You - 5th grade
String Thang - 6th & 7th grade combined
Viva La Vida - 8th 9th grade combined
Stairway to Heaven - 8th-12th grade combined
Cant Stop the Feeling - 10th-12th grade combined
Tom Sawyer - Concert Orchestra
Raffle! Sponsored by the Edina Orchestra Boosters
Hoedown, arr. Wood - All 5th-12th grade combined
CONCERT END
Can’t make the concert? You can watch our YouTube live stream during the scheduled concert through the end of the weekend! If you intend to watch the live stream only, consider donating to the cost of a ticket using our Venmo & PayPal links below!
BECOME A BOOSTER TODAY!
This event would not be possible without the very generous funds provided by our Edina Orchestra Boosters. If you’d like to support the Edina Orchestra Boosters, consider giving through the following vendors. It’s never too late to donate!
EYS GUEST ARTIST BIOS
MARK WOOD
Recording artist, performer, producer, inventor, Emmy Award-winning composer and Juilliard trained music education advocate, Mark Wood has spent the past four decades electrifying the orchestra industry – literally.
Wood is a world-renowned performer who rose to fame as string master and original member of the internationally acclaimed Trans Siberian Orchestra. A successful solo artist in his own right, Wood writes and records original music for film and television, has released six solo albums, and tours with his band The Mark Wood Experience (MWE) which features his wife, vocalist Laura Kaye. His commission credits include The Juilliard School and extensive TV broadcast music including The Winter Olympics and The Tour de France (for which he won an Emmy).
But his true passion is music education. His program Electrify Your Symphony (EYS) – celebrating its 23rd year in 2023 – is an intensive rock and roll workshop for school music education departments that boosts student self-esteem and motivation and helps raise money for music education. Today EYS visits upwards of 60 schools per year and there is a waiting list of schools wanting to participate. The organization has been featured on The Today Show and CBS Evening News and in countless local media outlets.
But for Wood, it’s all about the kids. He’s dedicated to providing educators with the opportunity to ignite their students’ passions and to inspire students to open their minds and unlock their potential. His book “Electrify Your Strings: The Mark Wood Improvisational Violin Method” (published by Cherry Lane/Hal Leonard) is regarded as the definitive electric violin method book. Wood is passionate about providing educators and students with the tools they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.
GREG BYERS
Throughout his lifelong pursuit of music, Greg has overcome countless obstacles in order to become an idiosyncratic performer, composer, educator, and producer. Greg started playing cello at The Family Suzuki School of Rochester, NY at the uncharacteristically young age of 2 1/2.
By age sixteen, he was a talented cellist but was frustrated with the lack of personal expression found in youth orchestras. Thanks to several mentors, Greg began to explore the possibilities of the cello in a jazz context. After beginning the undergraduate program at University of Miami, Greg wanted to officially switch his major to Studio Music & Jazz, which was initially denied because he was a cellist. Shelly Berg, the current Dean of the Frost School of Music, took over in 2007 and saw Greg’s perseverance. In the end Greg became the first person to double major in Instrumental Performance/ Studio Music & Jazz on cello and bass, Summa Cum Laude.
In 2010 he appeared in The Weird World of Blowfly, a documentary about the aging Clarence Reid; this included footage from several tours in Europe where Greg played bass guitar for over 15,000 people. After working in the Miami music scene, Greg decided to explore opportunities in Los Angeles. LA taught the importance of viewing music from the perspective of not only the performer but also the composer, music engineer, and business person, so he applied these skills to his debut EP, Some Dark, Beautiful Morning.
Greg then decided to continue his higher learning at McNally Smith College of Music in Saint Paul where he graduated a Master of Music Performance.
Since 2015 he has performed on BBC Two (Later...with Jools Holland) and Univision (Latin GRAMMYs); been a featured artist/clinician at New Directions Cello Festival, Creative Strings Workshop and Eclectic Strings Day; arranged strings for Omar Rodriguez Lopez’s latest solo project; and received the Artist’s Initiative Grant through the Minnesota State Arts Board.
Now a resident of the historic A-Mill Artist Lofts of Minneapolis, Greg maintains a busy schedule, juggling original and freelance performances, a private cello/bass studio and recording & production services.
THE EDINA ORCHESTRA TEAM
Matt Pearson - Bass
Years in the district: 20
South View Middle School - Grades 6-8
Kyrsten Darby - Violin
Years in the district: 12
Normandale, Concord, Highlands, Countryside, Cornelia - Grade 5
Dan Mollick - Cello
Years in the district: 9
Valley View Middle School - Grades 6-8
Years in the district: 7
Edina High School - Grades 10-12
Years in the district: 2
Edina High School - Grade 9
Max Voda - Bass
Years in the district: 1
Creek Valley - Grade 5
2023 Edina EYS Raffle:
Sponsored by the Edina Orchestra Boosters and Local Vendors.
The following items will be raffled from the stage to be collected after the concert
Wood Violins Stingray Electric Violin (5 string, can work for violin and viola Sponsored by Schmitt Music)
$300 Gift Card to All Strings Attached
$300 Gift Card to House of Note
Additional items to be raffled and claimed the following week
$20 gift cards to Schmitt Music
Violin, Viola, Cello, or Bass Bow future re-hairs from House of Note
Snark Tuners from All Strings Attached
Boveda Instrument humidification device from All Strings Attached
Thanks to the following local businesses for sponsoring this event!
THANK YOU…
To the Custodial Staff at Edina High School.
To the EHS Choir for lending us their stage platforms.
To the EHS Phy Ed department for lending us the Activities Center space for the day.
To Josh Barnd and Riverbottom Productions for providing sound and lights at this event.
To Doug Geston with Westmark Productions provided the YouTube live stream.
To the incredible roster of Music Teachers across the Edina Public School District.
To EPS Superintendent Dr. Stacie Stanley for her prerecorded words of encouragement!
To the principals, assistant principals, and the building administration from each location across the district.
To Samantha Odonnell for expert skills setting up our ticketing this event!
To Deb Wyant and the EYS team for helping us launch this amazing concert!
To Mark Wood and Greg Byers for their time and energy working with our students!
To Nathan Blake for his EYS movement workshop!
To Schmitt Music for sponsoring the Electric Woods Violin for the raffle.
To Jeff Anderson at House of Note for their generous raffle donation.
To All Strings Attached for their generous raffle donation.
Thank you to GTCYS for supporting the Edina Orchestra Program and all orchestra programs around the state of Minnesota.
To Shelly Fayard for taking on the task of organizing the volunteers for this event!
To Lisa Mellum and team for running the raffle and Edina Orchestra Boosters merch table.
To the many volunteers who came early today, who stayed late, and who are donating their time and energy into make this concert possible!
To the Edina Orchestra Boosters for their very generous donation making this concert possible!
To the Parents, Families, and Students who make this program amazing! Thank you for all your effort to keep music and art alive in todays world!
EDINA ORCHESTRA BOOSTERS BOARD
President: Andrew Flood
Past President: David Mashaal
Treasurer: Jeremy Seldon
Secretary: Anne Holtey
Membership Coordinator: Lisa Mellum
EYS Concert Coordinator: Shelly Fayard
Student Accounts: Lynn Schmitt
Event Coordinator: Tricia Rubenstein
South View Coordinator: ***OPEN***
Vally View Coordinator: ***OPEN***
President Elect: ***OPEN***