BILLINGS— The Montana Youth Symphony is rehearsing with its largest group of talent yet, at 60 musicians, in preparation for a concert Sunday.
The group includes concertmaster Rosie Weiss, who grew up in Billings and has played violin for 25 years, since she was 3 years old.
Watch to see symphony musicians rehearse:
“The story goes that my father learned about this thing called Suzuki Method and was like, ‘Oh, that would be cool. And I hear you can start really young kids.’ And then he heard that you should start when you're two. And so, then he was like, ‘Oh no, it's already too late.’ But then we got started at three and I took off with it,” said Weiss.
The 28-year-old has a long list of accomplishments, which includes playing in the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, where Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell was a soloist.
“I joked that that was like the peak of my career, when I was 16,” she said.
Although Weiss lives in Boise, Idaho, she still considers Billings to be her hometown.
“I still play with Billings Symphony. I am an assistant concertmaster at Billings Symphony. So once a month, I fly over from Boise,” she said.
While the youth symphony concert will be held in Billings, musicians have come from all over the state to be a part of it, including a soloist from Helena, Charles Snellman.
The 18-year-old cellist won his division in January in the Biennial Young Artists Competition put on by the Montana Association of Symphony Orchestras.
That’s when this year’s symphony conductor, Sir Donald Runnicles, noticed him and decided to give him a solo.
Snellman will play the solo part in Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major by Joseph Haydn.
“It's very sparkly and honestly pretty exposed for the solo cellist. So it's a little nerve-wracking sometimes, but it's a beautiful piece and I can't wait to perform it,” Snellman said.
Snellman has played the cello for almost 10 years, starting in fourth grade.
“I just fell in love and loved the cello. I loved everything about symphony music. It just inspired me so much,” Snellman said.
His ambitions don’t stop there. Snellman plans to attend Johns Hopkins University in the fall, studying molecular biology and cello performance.
He said working alongside his ambitious peers, who range from ages 16 to 30, has been an incredible experience.
“It's really, really inspiring to perform with people who have already gone off to college, people that are still in high school, people that are even in graduate school,” Snellman said.
Weiss and Snellman will be performing with the symphony at 3 p.m. Sunday at Alberta Bair Theater.
You can purchase tickets here.
