Youth Performing Arts School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) is a performing arts school in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, that concentrates on various music, theatre and dance disciplines for high school students. Students who attend have a two-hour block of arts studies, with the balance of their classes at duPont Manual High School. The YPAS is one of only 100 U.S. schools of its type. Students are selected through an audition process.
Among other things, YPAS is known for its outstanding orchestra, the Philharmonia. Under the direction of former Orchestral Director Lyndon Lawless (1996-2006), the YPAS Philharmonia gave performances at Carnegie Hall in New York, was featured on National Public Radio's "From the Top" and performed in various venues throughout the United States. The Philharmonia is an all-string orchestra composed of around 30 of the region's finest string players, many of whom go on to attend professional music conservatories or music-based colleges such as Juilliard.
Perhaps the most widely viewed YPAS performance took place at President George W. Bush's first term Inauguration, when the YPAS chorus sang "America the Beautiful".
Though often overlooked, YPAS is also home to minor performing groups for non-majors who attend duPont Manual High School while taking a class at YPAS as an elective.
[edit] Famous alumni
- Nicole Scherzinger (1996), lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls
- Sara Gettelfinger (1995), Broadway performer
- Paige Davis (1987), theater performer, host of Trading Spaces on TLC from 2001 to 2005
The Youth Performing Arts School Concert Choir has consistently received superior ratings and prestigious invitations to perform from 1978 to 2000 under its founding director David Brown, and from 2000 to the present under Maestro S. Timothy Glasscock. Since 1998, the choir has toured Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, England, Italy and Hungary, perfoming in such sought-after venues as St. Mark's in Venice, Notre Dame in Paris, Rochester Cathedral, Saint Peter's in Rome, Saint Susanna in Rome, Saint James Episcopal in London, amid many other fine venues. The Concert Choir performs music from every style period and in eleven foreign languages. The Choir is frequently requested to perform for dignitaries and social events throughout the Commonwealth and the nation. The choir has sung for three presidents, numerous govenors, backed up various pop stars such as Josh Groban (2001, 2002, 2003) and performs seasonally with the Louisville Chorus, Kentucky's longest thriving professional choral arts agency.
