FREEPORT — The Augusta Symphony Orchestra will wrap up the 2012-2013 season with its annual concert with the Maine Youth Orchestra  at 3 p.m.Saturday, May 11, at the Freeport Performing Arts Center at Freeport High School.

The concert will include Morton Gold’s Clarinet Concerto Op. 60, selections from Les Miserables, Richard Hayman’s “Pops’ Hoe Down,” Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, and the overture to von Weber’s Oberon.

The concert will mark the Maine premiere of Morton Gold’s Clarinet Concerto. Morton Gold (b.1933), a prolific American composer of Jewish secular and sacred music, was influenced by New York’s Jewish Theatre in the 1940s. Gold was educated in the public schools of New York and studied piano at the Third Street Music Settlement House. He holds a bachelor of music degree, an M.A. in teaching from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in musical arts with a major in composition from Boston University.

Gold has been active in virtually every area of music throughout his career as a conductor, concert pianist, educator at the college and pre-college levels, and journalist. To crown a lifetime rich in achievement, the Cantors Assembly has recognized his accomplishments by awarding him their Kavod Award in 2010 for his contributions to Jewish music.

MYO is one of Maine’s oldest youth orchestras, composed of talented middle and high school students. Originally the Brunswick Regional Youth Orchestra, this organization was founded in 1972 with the help of the late Professor Robert Beckwith of Bowdoin College and an initial grant from the Maine State Commission for the Arts and Humanities. Now celebrating 40 years of continued dedication, MYO is committed to the mission of supporting and training middle and high school aged students in performing major symphonic works.

Incorporated in 1974, the orchestra is designed to provide orchestral training for area students in grades 6 through 12, since most schools in the area did not–and still do not — have orchestras. In 2001 the orchestra relocated to Yarmouth High School and was renamed the Maine Youth Orchestra or MYO to better serve any student from the surrounding area. The orchestra has been rehearsing at Greely Middle School in Cumberland since 2012.

Paul Ross, conducts. Mr. Ross has been principal cellist with the Winnipeg, Orlando, Quebec, Portland, Boston Ballet and the Boston Opera orchestras. He has also performed with the Boston Pops and Boston Symphony. He was conductor of the University of Southern Maine Symphony, the Bowdoin Symphony Orchestra, and the founder of the Mid-Coast Symphony. He has also guest conducted the Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra, the Portsmouth Youth Orchestra and the University of New Hampshire Symphony. Mr. Ross is the founding cellist of the Portland String Quartet and current music director of both the Augusta Symphony Orchestra and the Maine Youth Orchestra.

Founded shortly after World War I, the ASO has had the privilege of sharing great classic and modern works of symphonic music with the central Maine region for nearly 90 years. The ASO is dedicated to enriching the arts scene of the community by delivering the music of talented local musicians to the public. This vibrant community orchestra includes individuals spanning all age groups and walks of life, from high school students to doctors and active retirees.

Suggested ticket donations are $4 for students, $8 for adults and $20 for families. Children 5 and under are free. For more information, visit maineyouthorchestra.org or call 207.752.8031

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