by Merrill Bradshaw

The Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus (often abbreviated MYSC) is an officially sponsored musical organization of the Church. It was organized in 1969 with a primary commission to promote a "greater understanding between all peoples and cultures."

The group is composed of young musicians ages 18 to 33 who have participated in school or community orchestras and choruses. These musicians come from various communities in Utah and rehearse two hours each week.

The MYSC performs approximately thirty times each year, including formal concerts in the tabernacle, conference appearances, firesides, tours, broadcasts, and recordings. The programming was changed to the "Boston Pops" format when Conductor Robert C. Bowden received the baton in 1974. Bowden conducts and also composes and arranges much of the music for the groups. Tours have covered the United States. During the Bicentennial celebration of the Constitution in Washington, D.C., the symphony and chorus performed in the Kennedy Center. Many nationally prominent visiting artists have performed with them.

The Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus has won fourteen national awards for television specials, including two Emmys, two George Washington Awards from the Freedom Foundation, and the Angel Award from Religion in Media. It has also performed for several national and international groups; such presentations have included a television special for the Norwegian Broadcasting Company as well as specials for American Veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, and for the National League of American Pen Women. The MYSC has eighteen commercial recordings to its credit.

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Encyclopedia of Mormonism

Copyright © 1992 by Macmillan Publishing Company