EYSO SPOTLIGHT: DIANE STREDDE

Diane Stredde was a charter member of Elgin Area Youth Orchestra, which was later renamed Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra. In fact, she was the program’s entire viola section for the 1976-77 season!

Diane has been involved in music in one way or another her entire life with viola as her primary instrument. She also plays piano, guitar, and ukulele, as well as tenor and bass steel pan. Diane’s EYSO experience began during her senior year of high school, when the organization's founding director Robert Hanson asked her to join the program. “I had no idea the tremendous impact that experience would have on my future,” Diane says. “I gained a confidence that year that enabled me to venture into many musical experiences I might not otherwise have tried.”

After that year, Diane went on to the University of Illinois where she performed in the symphony and was hired to play viola in the opera orchestra of Porgy and Bess starring William Warfield. When she returned from college, she was the EYSO Operations Manager for several years, played viola in a community orchestra and in several community musicals, and taught both viola and piano.

Recently, she was elected to the EYSO Board of Directors. “I really love that now I can support EYSO in helping students change their lives through music,” she says. Diane was recently instrumental in the Stories Behind the Music fundraising campaign as member of the board’s Special Events committee and is currently co-chair of the board’s Alumni Engagement committee.

Diane continues to perform and recently joined the Elgin Community College (ECC) Jazz Band playing electric viola and steel pan. She also performs with the ECC Steel Band playing tenor or bass pans. She even plays in the ECC Guitar Ensemble.

She has also dabbled in arranging music. For steel pan, she arranged ZZ Top’s “Cheap Sunglasses” and wrote an arrangement of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” for guitar ensemble. She has performed both pieces with ECC ensembles.

Diane’s personal and professional development during, and since, her days at EYSO extends far beyond music.

Her career has focused on process improvement, where her problem-solving abilities have helped numerous organizations improve process and reduce inefficiencies. Her work in that area has been recognized by many.

For instance, she was recognized as Outstanding Young Woman of Elgin for her plan to save a daycare from bankruptcy. Computerworld Magazine recognized her team at the Kane County Coroner’s Office with a Laureate Status Award for a plan they developed for an automated system. And the YWCA has bestowed her with the Marguerite Henry Award for Communications at their annual Leader Luncheon.