This Wednesday and Thursday young people from all around Illinois will be arriving at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts to see and hear the annual Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerts. The concert will begin this Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

This years concerts are titled “New Music for the New World: Dvorák in America”. The concerts detail the work of Czech composer, Antonín Dvorák, and how he helped Americans discover their musical roots. This years concert features a symphony he wrote while living in America: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World.”

Under the name KinderKonzerts until 2011, the Youth Concerts provide students in the Champaign-Urbana community a live symphonic musical experience. Each year the concert typically draws over 4,000 students from across the state of Illinois. Programs are chosen by the conductor based on their relevance to the lives of youths today.

The Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, or CUSO, began the event in 1964, at which time the concerts were held in Foellinger Auditorium. However, as their popularity grew, the concerts were moved first to Assembly Hall and then to the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in 1975.

The Youth Concerts are produced by the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra in cooperation with the University of Illinois School of Music Office of Public Engagement and the Guild of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra.

In a press release about the event the group stated, “CUSO recognizes the importance of instilling musical values in youths, and with these concerts, we are able to do just that!”

2012 Youth Concerts Wednesday, April 4 and Thursday, April 5

Student arrival 9:00-9:25 a.m.

Concert 9:30 a.m.