COUNTYWIDE : Conductor of Youth Orchestra Named

The Ventura County Symphony, aiming to expand its educational efforts, has named an assistant conductor and is assembling a countywide youth orchestra. The new assistant conductor, who will oversee the youth orchestra, is Gregory Fried, 35.

The Ventura County Youth Symphony, open to county students in grades seven to 12, will be independent from the longstanding Ventura County Civic/Youth Orchestra. The civic/youth orchestra, under the auspices of Ventura College, is mostly made up of college students and other adult members of the community.

First auditions for the new youth symphony were held Tuesday night, but Fried said he was still searching for string players and others, and urged those interested to call 643-8646.

Fried holds a doctoral degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Texas at Austin and has served as director of orchestral activities at the University of Kansas. He was chosen from a field of 150 candidates nationwide, said symphony Executive Director Karine Beesley, in part because of the videotape Fried sent of himself conducting the University of Kansas Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the orchestral suite from Zoltan Kodaly’s opera “Hary Janos.”

“It was just obvious that here was someone who knew what he was doing on the podium,” Beesley said.

“I wanted to make the transition into professional conducting, and this seemed like a nice opportunity,” said Fried, who arrived in September.