Building a community where music education and performance are valued and shared through diverse programs and creative partnerships, serving more than 500 of Southcentral Alaska’s youth, from kindergarten to college, each year.
Anchorage Youth Symphony
Serving high school and college age youth musicians with music education and performance in a professional symphony setting and offering access to a future in professional music while building the skills that bring success in any career field they choose.
Symphony School
Serving musicians, grades 4-12, through skill-based training ensembles, preparing them for future musical success in the Anchorage Youth Symphony and other community ensembles by raising their level of musical skill.
After School Music
A partnership with Camp Fire Alaska, serving children, K-6, through a program of music inspiration; introducing them to classical music, encouraging early music lessons, and offering free access to their first classical music concert by the Anchorage Youth Symphony.
Ensemble Conductors
AYS Principal Conductor
David Hagen*
Symphony School Conductor
Bruce Wood, Ph.D.
Board of Directors
President: Nate Berry*
Vice President: Vacant
Treasurer: Will Lacy
Secretary: Ben Smith*
Jacquie Braden*
Anne Connors
Margit Jensen-Cook
Bill Klemm
Sang Schirard
Pierre Derycz, ex officio
AYO alum*
David Hagen
AYS Principal Conductor
David Hagen
David Hagen is delighted to serve as Principal Conductor of the Anchorage Youth Symphony for the 2024-25 season. Mr. Hagen and his family have a long association with AYS: he himself played trumpet in the orchestra, and his two brothers and two sons were also members. Mr. Hagen’s time playing in AYS was particularly formative for him as a young musician.
Mr. Hagen has been active as a conductor and music educator in Anchorage for many years. He became artistic director and conductor of the Alaska Chamber Singers (ACS) in 1995, succeeding founder and artistic director Elvera Voth. He has conducted the ACS in such major choral/orchestral works as Bach’s Mass in B minor, Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio and numerous motets and cantatas; Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms; Britten’s War Requiem (along with Anchorage Concert Chorus and Alaska Children’s Choir), Faure’s Requiem; Haydn’s The Creation; Mozart’s Great Mass in C and Requiem; and Poulenc’s Gloria.
Mr. Hagen served as Chorus Master with Anchorage Opera for several seasons, preparing such works as Carmen, Die Fledermaus, Romeo et Juliette and Sweeney Todd. He served as general director of the Anchorage Festival of Music, and was the founder and music director of AVE, a vocal ensemble that performed to much acclaim in Anchorage in the 1990’s.
Mr. Hagen recently retired from the Anchorage School District, where he served as an instrumental music teacher for many years, as well as Music Curriculum Coordinator for two years. His many compositions for beginning band are regularly heard at local band festivals.
Mr. Hagen received his earliest musical training in the Anchorage School District and is a graduate of Robert Service High School. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from George Fox University and a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He is a recipient of the Anchorage Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding Individual Artist.
Bruce Wood, Ph.D.
Symphony School Conductor
Bruce Wood, Ph.D.
Dr. Bruce Wood recently retired from the position of AYO Music Director, which he held since joining the organization in 2021. He is excited to continue working with AYO’s Symphony School ensembles this Fall!
Prior to joining AYO, Dr. Wood worked with the Anchorage School District where he served as Director of Fine Arts. Before arriving in Alaska, Dr. Wood was Associate Professor of Music Education at Texas Tech University. Dr. Wood received his master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his bachelor’s degree from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. At Texas Tech, Dr. Wood received over $80,000 in grants for teaching and research projects, including the Texas Tech String Project, which he directed. Dr. Wood has been published by the American String Teachers’ Journal, Strings Magazine, GIA publications, and has written a book entitled, The Yin and Yang of Teaching Music. In addition, Dr. Wood was the founding Music Director of the Youth Orchestras of Lubbock. As ASD Fine Arts Director, Dr. Wood is pleased to announce that Fine Arts high school students in ASD have a ten percent greater likelihood to graduate, and attend school at an eight percent higher rate than the general population. Dr. Wood’s wife, Brooke, works as Donor Relations Manager for the Anchorage Museum.
Pierre Derycz
Pierre is a cellist and composer with a passion for promoting novel concert experiences that reach new audiences. An experienced concert presenter, he worked with the YMF Debut Chamber Orchestra in Los Angeles to produce the world-premiere performance of YEETHOVEN, a program comparing the pioneering artistry of western classical and hip-hop artists, which garnered international media coverage and overflow attendance. As a performer, he has worked with the Los Angeles Opera and Los Angeles Virtuosi orchestras, and is a co-founder of the cross-genre cello ensemble Splntrd Wood and electro-acoustic band String Fever.
Previously, Pierre worked on the development team at UCLA, where he contributed to the stewardship of transformational philanthropy to benefit the university. He concurrently received an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management, with a concentration in nonprofit and social impact enterprises. Pierre currently serves as Executive Director of the Anchorage Chamber Music Festival in Anchorage, Alaska, and recently founded his own venture, Foogmasta Studios, which creates custom covers and arrangements for classical ensembles seeking to diversify their repertoire. Pierre has also left his mark on the scores of several big-picture films; look carefully and you may spot his credit in titles such as Thor: Love and Thunder, Lightyear, Spider-man: Far From Home, and Coco.
Pierre Derycz
Executive Director