Prolific Composer and PYO Symphony Orchestra Former Director Richard Meyer Visit Flintridge Prep’s Orchestra

Richard Meyer, a prolific composer and former director of the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra, visited Flintridge Preparatory School Orchestra and 8th Grade Instrumental Music classes as a guest instructor.

Mr. Meyer provided a valuable breadth of knowledge. “He made us more aware of the different instruments,” shares Claire Jung ‘28. “If we play a stringed instrument, he would talk about how wind instruments work and then for the winds, he went over bowing and things that are unique to people who play stringed instruments.”

“It makes me feel that since I understand my classmates’ instruments better, I can work on my own part in a different way,” adds Noah Mukherjee ‘25.

For Roman Mrakich ‘28, the most valuable piece of the visit was “going through a piece differently than we do in class. We’re able to see it from another side and correct our mistakes in a different way.”

Mr. Meyer also introduced the classes to a new form of tuning used in professional orchestras. “The piano plays and the violin tunes to that and then they go string by string individually so each instrument can tune its specific notes,” explains an excited Eyla Najafi ‘26. “We are spending more time on tuning,” adds Noah, “but we just sound more together as a group.”

Flintridge Preparatory School, 4543 Crown Ave., La Cañada Flintridge, (818) 790-1178 or visit www.flintridgeprep.org.