Membership Information

” I was very fortunate that my Wantagh public school violin teacher Eugene Kahn brought me to Martin Dreiwitz in 1967 (when I was 13) to join the Long Island Youth Orchestra. Starting out in the back of the second violins and working my way up to assistant concertmaster, I eventually ended up as the principal violist in my last years of high school. The learning and performing of great orchestral works with Martin and LIYO are still some of my most important early musical experiences that helped propel me into a life long love and career in music. I’m sure I can speak for all the thousands of Long Island young people in thanking Martin for his incredible vision in starting LIYO and that its ongoing existence is continuing to joyfully influence the lives of so many today. ” – Lawrence Dutton

” I credit much of my musical wanderlust to Martin Dreiwitz and LIYO, having been concertmaster of the orchestra on their first international tours to the Caribbean, Europe, Polynesia, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, and even on the “warm-up” tours to such exotic destinations as Chicopee, Massachusetts, and Hershey, Pennsylvania. In addition to providing me with many lasting memories (some hilarious, some unrepeatable), my experience with the orchestra also provided an invaluable entrée to many of the immortal standards like the Berlioz “Symphonie Fantastique” and Mahler First. ” – Gerald Elias

” LIYO was an extraordinary opportunity for me to expand my musical horizons while seeing the worlds’ horizons. To be able to tour the south Pacific one year and Scandinavia and Poland the next at such a young age changed my expectations of the world and of myself. I am forever indebted to Martin Dreiwitz ” – Linda Toote

” During that time and as an alumnus I was afforded countless invaluable experiences and opportunities, including participation in two of the orchestra’s summer tours that covered three continents and the orchestra’s first concert at Carnegie Hall in 2002. Weekly exposure for four years to a large amount of orchestral repertoire and other talented musicians was certainly the cornerstone of my own musical development. Martin Dreiwitz’s unmatched dedication, leadership and expertise are the reason for it’s continued success and the success of its members. ” – James Dissinger