About Us
Who We Are: A Home for Music and Growth
Through a comprehensive learning environment promoting curiosity, imagination, critical thinking, and collaboration, the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras have built a national reputation as an engaging and challenging experience for young musicians. With five large ensembles, three sectional ensembles, a thriving Chamber Music Institute, and a beginner Starter Strings program for low-income and minority youth, EYSO shapes hundreds of students each year through rigorous methods of inquiry, “expert noticing,” and high standards of musical training.
Developing Leaders Through Music
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Matthew Sheppard, the students of EYSO explore a comprehensive curriculum each season—one which aims not only to nurture these students artistically and technically, but also to prepare them for a future of complex ideas, creative risk-taking, and leadership as global citizens. Dynamic and engaging rehearsals foster musical and personal growth as students develop into well-rounded and thoughtful communicators, and leaders in their sections, ensembles, schools, and communities.
Educating the Whole Musician
This thoughtful and attentive approach that is the hallmark of EYSO has led hundreds of alumni to successful careers as professional musicians, educators, and leaders in every field. It’s what we call “educating the whole musician”: preparing our students for a lifelong journey of inquiry, creativity and growth. Regardless of our alumni’s pursuits, their EYSO experience as a valued member of a thought-provoking, rigorous, caring, and encouraging creative environment continues to serve them well.
To learn more about the pedagogical approach that EYSO conductors and coaches use in delivering the EYSO mission, visit the Illinois Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) page.
EYSO Through the Years
EYSO was founded in 1976 as the Elgin Area Youth Orchestras under the direction of Robert Hanson. What began as a small string ensemble providing opportunities for talented young musicians in the area quickly grew to encompass multiple orchestras, including a full symphony orchestra, thanks to the dedication of passionate volunteers and a distinguished roster of conductors.
In 1998, the organization became the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras with the appointment of Artistic Director Randal Swiggum, whose unique brand of music education and performance developed EYSO into the organization it is today. Swiggum brought the innovative pedagogical model known as Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance to EYSO, where it became a hallmark of the organization’s programs. EYSO’s thematic approach to seasons and concerts reflects this methodology, drawing extra-musical connections that ask students to think creatively and critically, while closely observing how different elements relate—a strategy called “expert noticing.”
The Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestras officially incorporated as a nonprofit in 2000 under the leadership of Swiggum and EYSO’s first Executive Director, Kathy Matthews. Together, the pair expanded EYSO to encompass five orchestras, a brass choir, percussion ensemble, a Chamber Music Institute, and four Honors Chamber Ensembles, educating nearly 400 students every year. Swiggum and Matthews organized high-profile collaborations with violinists Midori and Rachel Barton Pine, performance broadcasts on WFMT and NPR’s From the Top, and tours to Aberdeen, Scotland and Gettysburg. From 2000 to 2019, EYSO was recognized by the Illinois Council of Orchestras twice as Youth Orchestra of the Year and twice for Programming of the Year. Swiggum was named the ICO’s Conductor of the Year in 2008.
K. Eric Larson succeeded Kathy Matthews as Executive Director on her retirement in the fall of 2016, and EYSO’s present Artistic Director, Matthew Sheppard, took the helm in the summer of 2019. Together, the duo stewarded the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic with perseverance, creative thinking, and tremendous support from students, parents, the Board of Directors, and volunteers. EYSO was one of a small number of youth orchestras and performing arts companies to remain active through the entire pandemic, finding new ways to safely and authentically engage with students and music. The organization continued to grow between 2019 and 2025, introducing a flute choir, summer chamber music camp, launching the Starter Strings program to serve low-income and minority youth, and expanding the organization’s staff and Board of Directors. EYSO was again recognized as the Youth Orchestra of the Year (2021), for Programming of the Year (2022), for Conductor of the Year (Matthew Sheppard, 2022), and for Community Relations of the Year (2025).
