Claremont, CA — The Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra will present its 2025 Opening Concerts on Sunday, January 26, at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM, at Bridges Hall of Music, Pomona College, 150 E. Fourth Street, Claremont.
The 7:00 PM concert, given by the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra, an 85-member orchestra conducted by Jorge Padrón, will include La Gazza Ladra Overture by Rossini, Polyvtsian Dances by Borodin, and Symphony No. 9 (The New World) by Dvorak. The soloist for the concert will be Mason Soria, Principal Tuba of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Soria will perform the Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra by John Williams.
The 2:00 PM concert will include the Claremont Young Musicians Intermezzo Orchestra, conducted by Greg Samuel, a 75-member preparatory group for the CYMO, and the Overture Strings, conducted by Wendy Waggener, a beginning orchestra that was formed by the CYMO in 2019. The Intermezzo Orchestra program will include Zampa Oveture by Herold, Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 by Grieg, Dance of the Comedians by Smetana, Pomp and Circumstance by Elgar, Children’s Dance by Howard Hansen, and Promenade by Leroy Anderson.
Since 1989, the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra has offered thousands of young musicians from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange Counties the opportunity to prepare and perform original symphonic music for enthusiastic, appreciative, and “standing room only” audiences in the US and Europe. Alumni of the orchestra continue to perform at their universities and colleges and many are playing professionally throughout the world.
Admission is free for the CYMO concerts on January 26. Doors open at 6:30 PM for the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra concert and 1:45 PM for the Overture Strings and Intermezzo Orchestra concerts. For information: rjscymo@aol.com, cymo.org. (909) 624-3614,
Mason Soria began his musical endeavors on the tuba at the age of 10 and currently holds the Principal Tuba position in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Mason’s orchestral pursuit began in his sophomore year of high school when he won the Principal Tuba position in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra. He held this position for the rest of high school and was able to go on the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra China Tour in the summer of 2015. He was then awarded a full tuition music scholarship to the University of North Texas, where he studied with Professors Donald Little and Matthew Good in pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance.
During his time in school, he won a fellowship to the prestigious Aspen Music Festival where he studied with Warren Deck in 2019, and later returned in 2021 and won the Aspen Music Festival Brass Concerto Competition. In 2019, shortly after returning from his first summer in Aspen, Mason won the Principal Tuba position with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. He held that position while starting his master’s degree at the Frost School of Music at University of Miami where he was a teaching assistant and studied under the tutelage of Dr. Aaron Tindall from 2020-2022.
While in his last semester at Frost, Mason won the Principal Tuba position with the Richmond Symphony, having only played a few weeks of concerts before he was appointed by Gustavo Dudamel for the Principal Tuba position with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the age of 23.