One of the newest awards available through the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend is the Robert A. & Patricia K. Hanson Youth Symphony Award. This award, to benefit members of the Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestra, encourages higher achievement among Youth Orchestra musicians and furthers the goals and mission of the Youth Symphony Orchestra.

The Hanson Youth Symphony Award serves a variety of purposes including, but not limited to: upgrading instruments, securing improved private instruction, tuition at summer music camps or programs, or college tuition.

Four awards of $1,000 each were awarded this spring to members of the Youth Symphony. Isaac Trapkus, a senior at Bettendorf and a Principal Double Bass, exemplifies the qualities that contribute to the life of the Youth Symphony Orchestra. Isaac will be attending University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan in the fall.

The QCSOA maintains education training/performance ensembles the Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Sting Ensemble. The purpose of these ensembles is to provide an advanced music education experience for young musicians, their families and their schools within a seventy-mile radius.

The Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1958 as a training ensemble for middle, junior high and high school-aged musicians. It is comprised of 80 accomplished instrumentalists drawn from 22 school districts. Each year, the orchestra performs subscription concerts and features soloists chosen from within the Youth Orchestra. In addition, the Orchestra performs "Symphony Day"-- a series of music education concerts for elementary school children. More than $7,000 is awarded to students of the Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestra. Youth Orchestra rehearsals begin in the late fall, with sessions normally scheduled for Saturday mornings. Conductor of the Youth Orchestra for 2001-02 is Thomas Hageman.