Ensemble Attunes Youthful Ears to Sound of Classics : Music: The Santa Clarita Valley Youth Orchestra engenders a commitment to artistic expression in students of all ages.

For Jung Sun Ryu of Bakersfield, there is no sleeping late on Saturday mornings. Instead, the 16-year-old crawls out of bed, dresses, grabs a cookie and quickly joins her father by 8 a.m. in the family Oldsmobile, where the two spend the next hour driving to Valencia.

Jung, a cellist, is one of 46 students in the Santa Clarita Valley Youth Orchestra, which rehearses at 9:30 every Saturday morning at College of the Canyons.

“My cello teacher made me aware of the orchestral program,” Jung said. “At first I was skeptical because there were so many younger children, but after I heard them play, I was really impressed. Some of the third-graders play at the same level as I do. I learn a lot about music theory, and I earn college credit.”

Enrollment in the course is open to students of all ages, but most of the musicians range from 7 to 20 years old, with at least one year of instrumental training from their elementary, junior or senior high schools. Some have studied privately.

“It’s easy to teach students of all ages,” said Pat Norris, who coaches the orchestra’s string section. “Musical ability is the key, not chronological ages. A 14-year-old may be more advanced than a 17-year-old.”

Norris, 38, of Valencia, also teaches instrumental music and chorus at schools throughout the Palmdale School District. “The youth orchestra is the only one in the Santa Clarita Valley,” she said. “Typically, every area has one youth orchestra and one community orchestra. Santa Clarita still doesn’t have a community orchestra, but our youth orchestra effectively prepares students for a career in music. They’re exposed to playing pieces they might later perform in a professional arena.”

On Thursday, the orchestra will perform in the College of the Canyons cafeteria. Selections will include the first movement of Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 (“London”), Tchaikovsky’s “Capriccio Italien,” Sibelius’ “Finlandia, Opus 26, No. 7,” Copland’s “Down a Country Lane” and songs from Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man.”

“I want this to be the premier youth orchestra in California,” said Robert Lawson, 38, the group’s teacher-conductor. “It’s my dream to see some of these kids graduate to form a professional orchestra” in the Santa Clarita community.

The Ventura resident, who recently received a master’s degree in music composition and conducting from CalArts, has led the young musicians since 1989. In addition, he is the music director of the San Buenaventura City Hall Concert Series in Ventura and teaches piano part time at College of the Canyons and Ventura College.

At a recent rehearsal, the students’ eyes traveled intently between their music and Lawson’s graceful baton. “We’ve been working a long time for this concert,” said 16-year-old French horn player Jennifer Hiller of Saugus High School. “We’ve made a lot of changes and improvements because we want this performance to be great. It’s sort of a culmination of a lot of other performances we’ve had since last winter.”

Formed in 1960 at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music in Valencia, the youth orchestra merged in 1971 with the Chouinard Art Institute when it became CalArts.

It remained at CalArts until 1985, when administrators wanted to discontinue the program to create classical courses strictly for college students, said Bernardo Feldman, chairman of the College of the Canyons music department. However, parents and community members protested by organizing a foundation to finance and maintain the orchestra. CalArts then agreed to continue the program.

Feldman, a part-time CalArts music instructor at the time, joined the foundation. In 1989, the Mexico City native persuaded College of the Canyons President Dianne Van Hook to move the ensemble to the community college. Van Hook agreed, willingly. The orchestra held its first class at the community college site in January.

“Students of any age can attend a community college and earn credits if they benefit from the instruction,” Van Hook said. “Many school districts lack funding to maintain orchestras in all of their schools, so students often don’t have an outlet for their musical expression. It’s important to expose them to the arts to develop a discipline and self-respect that will carry over into their adulthood.”

At the recent rehearsal, Mellissa DeConza, 7, sat mesmerized alongside her 9-year-old brother, Michael, during their first class. Wearing a white lace dress and pearl earrings to celebrate the occasion, the second-grader enjoyed the experience. “I might want to be a musician when I grow up,” she said.

Mellissa will play drums at Thursday’s concert. Michael, a fourth-grader at Sulphur Springs Elementary School in Canyon Country, plans to sit this one out until he has taken private lessons. He hopes to play cello for the orchestra in the future.

Besides Bakersfield, most students attend schools in Saugus, Castaic, Palmdale, Valencia and Newhall. Most of the area’s districts do not offer classical music as part of their curriculum. Of the 51 public institutions--elementary, junior and senior high schools--only nine have full orchestras.

Music programs were drastically reduced after Proposition 13 was passed by California voters in 1978. “Schools relied heavily on property taxes at the time,” said Joel Fox, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., “but now much of school funding comes from the state.”

Although the referendum accelerated the transition in school financing, the landmark Serrano vs. Priest decision of the mid-1970s made it inevitable, Fox said, referring to when the Supreme Court upheld the unconstitutionality of unequal school district financing.

Funding improved in 1984 when voters approved the Lottery Initiative, which earmarked at least 34% of the proceeds from lottery ticket sales for education. It continued to improve in 1988 with the passage of Proposition 98, which guaranteed schools about 40% of the state’s general fund. But with a recessive economy hurting lottery sales and a projected $12.6-billion shortfall in the state’s 1991-92 budget, school districts face a $2-billion reduction, including the governor’s proposed suspension of Prop. 98 funding.

Although fine arts programs continue to suffer from the fiscal dilemma, Feldman is enthusiastic about the future of music at COC. He has initiated an electronic music division, and plans are underway to build a campus theater.

He also hopes to encourage classical music appreciation in the adjacent communities. The youth orchestra accelerates those goals, he said, by performing on campus and for area residents.

“The youth orchestra is an avenue for expression,” said Jan Wakelin, parent of oboist Hans Wakelin, 13, and music director of the Castaic Union School District. “Playing an instrument requires discipline and practice, and it gives youngsters something structured to do in their free time.

“It’s good to know there is at least one quality program available that gives students good exposure to orchestral repertory.”

The Santa Clarita Valley Youth Orchestra performs at 7 p.m. Thursday in the College of the Canyons cafeteria, 26455 N. Rockwell Canyon Road, Valencia. Free. Information: (805) 259-7800.

Delmar is a Sherman Oaks free-lance writer.