Starting its eighteenth season, the Charlotte Youth Wind Ensemble, sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Department of Music, is composed of seventy of the finest young musicians from the greater Charlotte metropolitan region. Last year, the Wind Ensemble featured students from thirty different high schools in both North and South Carolina - 10 from Fort Mill High School which was more than any other single school.

The Ensemble organizes in January and, following two months of Tuesday evening rehearsals (2 1/2 to 3 hours not including the drive to UNCC in north Charlotte), presents three concerts in different parts of the region. Most members of this ensemble have earned membership in the All-District and All-State high school honor bands of North and South Carolina, groups which typically function for two or three days each year and then disband. As a regional honors organization, the purpose of the Charlotte Youth Wind Ensemble is to provide young musicians with performance opportunities which supplement their excellent school band programs. A college preparatory level of music is rehearsed in the wind ensemble format; a smaller, more select instrumentation than is typically found in larger All-State symphonic bands. The Ensemble also regularly performs new repertoire, not previously presented in the region, as part of its programs.

Auditions are scheduled for Saturday, December 8th - application deadline is November 28th. For more information, including the 2008 application, please visit UNCC Department of Music website at http://www.music.uncc.edu/cywe.htm.