The Tacoma Youth Symphony Association (TYSA) is revered nationwide as an organization of the utmost excellence in musical capability and business practice. Having been established over 50 years ago, the organization is renowned for its dedication to the development of quality music and nurturing students to their full musical potential.

Admired by universities and conservatories like The San Francisco Conservatory, The Cleveland Institute, Juilliard, and Curtis, students are recruited to these esteemed colleges because of the cultivated reputation the TYSA has established for itself. Many alumni have moved on to have successful careers as composers, orchestra members and even soloists.

Fostering the philosophy that providing an atmosphere of a close-knit, family-oriented nature is instrumental to success, the association focuses on harnessing bonds between everyone involved within the program. The aim is to be a "home" for everyone affiliated within the TYSA, especially the students.

"Music can be a very cutthroat industry. We really want to place kids where they're going to be best served, where they're going to learn the most. We try to downplay that competitive edge, and although it is competitive to get in here, once they are here, we want them to learn and to work as a team," said Kristina Thomas, who is the Marketing Manager and former graduate of the TYSA.

This ideology runs parallel to that of the United States military, where camaraderie serves as the foundation of the relationships and connections formulated between soldiers. Some of the students enrolled in various programs in the TYSA are military youth; they represent a portion of musicians who have parents that are currently serving or have served in the United States military.

Anna Gildon, whose father is Maj. Chris Gildon, 7th Infantry Div., is one of these pupils - a ninth grade violinist in the Tacoma Junior Youth Symphony (TJYC) who has been playing the violin for three years, and has been enrolled in the school for two.

When asked about her favorite aspect of being a part of TJYC, Gildon responded: "It's just a very collaborative experience. So you get to see how your part fits in with all of these other instrument parts and how it all comes together to form music. That's really fun."

Music can be instrumental - pun intended - in helping individuals cope with difficult times and situations. For this young musician, playing violin within the TYSA has helped her get through her father's deployments. Serving in the United States Army for 23 years, he's been deployed four times throughout his career.

Anna and her father's shared bond over music played a role in getting her through his deployments. "It definitely helped (playing music), it gave me something to do. I played the guitar while he was gone, and he also played the guitar. It was the same guitar he once bought during a deployment when he was missing his instruments, so that was nice," she recalled fondly.

Gildon's ambitions regarding music are grand: she hopes to one day become a successful composer. She currently writes many of her own pieces, and has even had the opportunity to hear some of her work played by some of her peers at the school. She'll be playing April 30, at 7 p.m. as part of the Tacoma Junior Youth Symphony and South Sound Strings Harp Ensemble event.

Attending concerts put on by the Tacoma Youth Symphony is a lively and enjoyable way to support our local military youth as they display their practiced skills for all to see.

For more information regarding the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association and upcoming events, please visit www.facebook.com/TacomaYouthSymphonyAssociation.