Building a community where music education and performance are valued and shared, serving more than 150 of Southcentral Alaska’s youth through two ensemble programs.
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.
Ensemble Conductors
AYO Music Director Emeritus
Linn Weeda*
Symphony School Conductor
Bruce Wood, Ph.D.
Board of Directors
President & Treasurer: Anne Connors
Vice President: Dale Cope
Secretary: Bill Klemm
Denise Brown-Chythlook
Tricia Elliott
Jodi Rhoades
Sang Schirard
Danika Watson*
Erin Whitney Witmer*
Pierre Derycz, ex officio
AYO alum*
Linn Weeda
AYO Music Director Emeritus
Linn Weeda
Conductor, performer, arranger and composer Linn Weeda was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. He has studied for his music degrees at UAF and Boston University with further studies in trumpet, solfège and conducting with several celebrated and revered masters.
Performances of his compositions include the recent premieres of his Passacaglia for the Children of War by the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra string section, and a set of songs premiered by UAA professor Dr. Mari Hahn.
As trumpet soloist he has appeared throughout the state, nationally as well as internationally, with many works composed for him. He has conducted in venues as varied as the Sydney Opera House, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and in a plane hangar in Talkeetna, Alaska.
Linn Weeda is the Assistant Conductor and Principal Trumpet of the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra and can be heard frequently with groups throughout the city.
Recently retired from the UAA music faculty after 41 years, he retired in 2021 from the Anchorage Youth Symphony after 31 years as its music director at which time he was appointed Music Director Emeritus.
Linn Weeda is a Yamaha Artist, performing on Yamaha instruments.
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!
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