Althea Althauser

Althea Althauser is thrilled to join the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra this year. This will be her first season with the SLSYO, and she hopes that her participation in this prestigious group will continue in the future. Althauser says she fell in love with the trombone at an early age, from the moment she heard a student from Kirkwood High School demonstrate its sound for the district band program when she was in the fourth grade. After signing up for instruction on the trombone, she began what turned out to be a long-lasting journey of hard work, love for music, and drive for excellence. Now a sixteen-year-old sophomore at KHS, she has completed two years of performance in the Community Music School of Webster University’s youth orchestras, including Young People’s Concert Orchestra and Young People’s Symphonic Orchestra. Along with her acceptance into the St. Louis All-Suburban band in 2022, these experiences have fueled her interest in orchestral trombone performance.

For five years, Althauser has been influenced by wonderful teachers and role models on her journey with the trombone. She would like to thank Kirkwood School District band directors Matthew Banks, Rebecca Friesen, and Eric Chrostoski for providing her with the tools and inspiration to develop a passion for music and her instrument. She has also received private instruction from Metro School District’s Marquita Reef for the past four years of her education, and studied under Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra’s own Jonathan Reycraft as well. Finally, Althea would like to thank every friend, family member, or teacher who has ever shown up to a concert, supported her dream with kind words, or simply bothered to listen to her play her instrument. These little things are, in reality, a big portion why she’s been accepted into the SLSYO as an alternate.

Althauser would also like to thank you, as an appreciator of music, for listening to her story and caring to spend time supporting the arts. She hopes you enjoy SLSYO’s 2023-2024 season as much as she will!