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Kirkwood High School Students Selected to St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra
Three Kirkwood High School (KHS) students were selected to the 53rd season of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra (SLSYO). KHS senior Nathan Bronstein, Violinist; senior Luisa Parker, Cellist and junior Mallory Mihm, Violist (alternate).
Approximately 100 young musicians between the ages of 12-22 are selected after auditioning for a panel of St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) musicians. Youth Orchestra (YO) members represent more than 40 schools throughout the bi-state region. There are over 2,000 alumni in a wide range of professions, including six current members of the SLSO.
In addition to rehearsing and performing challenging orchestral repertoire under the direction of the SLSO Assistant Conductor Stephanie Childress, musicians receive regular coaching and mentoring from the world-class musicians of the SLSO. The YO presents three concerts per season in historic Powell Hall.
Nathan Bronstein
Nathan Bronstein is 17 years old and is currently going into his senior year at Kirkwood High School in St. Louis, Missouri. This is his 3rd consecutive year playing in the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra out of the 8 years he has been playing the violin. Besides practicing and performing violin, he enjoys traditional Chinese and Japanese tea making, and pursuing the study of Natural History, a study he hopes to make a profession later in life.
In Nathan’s musical career, he has attended a multitude of programs including Community Music School’s YPCO and YPSO, as well as participating in the CMS Preparatory Program. He has also attended summer programs held by Innsbrook Institute, CMS, University of Missouri St. Louis, and Illinois Wesleyan University. Currently in Kirkwood’s High School orchestra program, he is ranked top in his class, something made possible by his guidance under his private teachers Deborah Bloom, Theo Bockhorst, and Angie Smart.
Luisa Parker
Luisa Parker is a seventeen-year-old rising senior at Kirkwood High School. She started playing cello at age seven under the instruction of Gary Lee. When she was eight years old, she switched to violin, only to return to cello a year later. Since then, Parker has grown as a musician through the Kirkwood School District’s music program. She is currently principal cellist of the Kirkwood High School Symphonic Orchestra.
Parker has participated in several music-related activities, including the 6th Grade All Suburban Honors Orchestra, Solo and Ensemble Festival, the Young People’s Concert Orchestra at the Community Music School of Webster University, and the Young People’s Symphonic Orchestra at the CMS. Parker studied with Patricia Gitto for six years and now studies with Davin Rubicz.
Besides cello, Parker enjoys reading, learning German, and all sorts of logic puzzles. She thanks her parents and sister for supporting her, as well as her teachers past and present, including Fariga Drayton-Conway and Patrick Jackson. This is her first season with the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Mallory Mihm
Mallory Mihm is a sixteen-year-old junior at Kirkwood High School. The 2022/2023 season will be her second year being a part of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Mallory started playing viola at the age of nine, in a school program with Patrick Jackson. She is currently being taught by Anna Lackschewitz.
Through seven years of progress, she has worked her way up through the orchestras of the Community Music School of Webster University, and has spent a year in the Preparatory Program. She was a member of the All State Orchestra in 2021 and 2022. She also attended the 2022 Interharmony International Music Festival in Acqui Terme, Italy, where she played orchestral and chamber music.
Outside of orchestra, Mallory enjoys reading, traveling, and baking.
Mallory would like to thank her teachers for the support she has received over the years, especially Anna Lackschewitz, Patrick Jackson, Sarah Klevorn, and Fariga Drayton-Conway.
For more information about the St. Louis Youth Orchestra, visit: https://www.slso.org/en/edu/youth-orchestra/yo-musicians/