The Mansfield Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO) was founded to serve as the premier youth ensemble associated with the Mansfield Philharmonic.
Currently open to students ages 13-18 with at least three years of instrumental experience, the MPYO offers a robust program that complements (rather than replaces) school band or orchestra involvement.
From wind and brass to strings and percussion, auditioning students will be placed in sections where they receive focused rehearsal, collaborative ensemble experience, and opportunities to perform in the region.
All practices and concerts are held at First Methodist Mansfield, providing a professional-level setting where young musicians can challenge themselves, build lifelong skills in musicianship, and contribute to the cultural life of the community.
Currently open to students ages 13-18 with at least three years of instrumental experience, the MPYO offers a robust program that complements (rather than replaces) school band or orchestra involvement.
From wind and brass to strings and percussion, auditioning students will be placed in sections where they receive focused rehearsal, collaborative ensemble experience, and opportunities to perform in the region.
All practices and concerts are held at First Methodist Mansfield, providing a professional-level setting where young musicians can challenge themselves, build lifelong skills in musicianship, and contribute to the cultural life of the community.
Announcing Spring 2026 Auditions!
Applications are now open to audition for MPYO's inaugural performance on Sunday, March 22, 2026!
Student musicians are encouraged to be enrolled in their school's band/orchestra programs (if applicable), for MPYO does not serve as a substitution for school ensembles. Auditions for orchestra placement are available for the following instruments:
Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Percussion, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass
Audition Requirements
Solo piece (2-3 minutes)
Orchestra Excerpts (3)
Audition Music
For orchestra placement consideration, please submit application/audition materials at the following link by Jan. 25, 2026.
Spring 2026 Application
Student musicians are encouraged to be enrolled in their school's band/orchestra programs (if applicable), for MPYO does not serve as a substitution for school ensembles. Auditions for orchestra placement are available for the following instruments:
Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, French Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Percussion, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass
Audition Requirements
Solo piece (2-3 minutes)
Orchestra Excerpts (3)
Audition Music
For orchestra placement consideration, please submit application/audition materials at the following link by Jan. 25, 2026.
Spring 2026 Application
Important Information
Upcoming Dates
Application/Audition Deadline Online Submission
January 25, 2026
Orchestra Placements Announced
February 1, 2026
Rehearsals 2:30pm-5:00pm
February 15* & 22
March 1, 8, 15, & 22
MPYO Inaugural Concert 6:00pm
March 22, 2026
*Tuition Due Date
January 25, 2026
Orchestra Placements Announced
February 1, 2026
Rehearsals 2:30pm-5:00pm
February 15* & 22
March 1, 8, 15, & 22
MPYO Inaugural Concert 6:00pm
March 22, 2026
*Tuition Due Date
Tuition & Financial Aid
Spring 2026 Tuition Fee
Membership in MPYO may be awarded to students upon completing the required audition materials and tuition paid in full by the following due date:
$100.00 paid in full by Sunday, February 15, 2026
Work-Study Program
At this time, we have limited availability for our work-study program where MPYO musicians with financial needs are awarded discounted tuition in exchange for weekly assistance in logistical operations.
Musicians enrolled in the work-study program are expected to arrive 45 minutes before rehearsal and stay 15 minutes after rehearsals each week to help with rehearsal room set-up/tear down.
Membership in MPYO may be awarded to students upon completing the required audition materials and tuition paid in full by the following due date:
$100.00 paid in full by Sunday, February 15, 2026
Work-Study Program
At this time, we have limited availability for our work-study program where MPYO musicians with financial needs are awarded discounted tuition in exchange for weekly assistance in logistical operations.
Musicians enrolled in the work-study program are expected to arrive 45 minutes before rehearsal and stay 15 minutes after rehearsals each week to help with rehearsal room set-up/tear down.
Artistic Staff
Education Director & Principal Conductor
Fletcher Rudd
Fletcher Rudd is a cellist, conductor, and strings teacher from Arlington, TX. He currently serves as the Education Director of the Mansfield Philharmonic and the Principal Conductor of the newly formed Mansfield Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO). Mr. Rudd previously served as a teaching artist for the B Sharp Youth Music Program in Fort Worth ISD, where he also conducted the B Sharp Youth Orchestras.
His conducting experience also includes student, amateur and professional musicians such as the Mansfield Philharmonic, Texas New Music Ensemble, Mid-Cities Strings, and Mansfield Summer Strings. Additionally, he has been invited as a guest clinician for middle and high school orchestras and has served as a judge for Texas Solo & Ensemble, pre-UIL competitions, and several other music festivals. He is an active cello and bass instructor in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, where his students have consistently placed in district and regional orchestras. In 2025, Mr. Rudd was invited to conduct the All-City Honors Orchestra in Cedar Hill ISD.
Mr. Rudd is completing his undergraduate studies in music education at the University of Texas at Arlington and performs with the UTA Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, the UTASO were invited to perform at the TMEA convention/clinic in San Antonio, TX. Mr. Rudd studied cello with Craig Leffer (Dallas Opera) and Laura Ospina (Las Colinas Symphony). He has also studied conducting at workshops directed by Dr. Clifton Evans at UT Arlington and Miguel Harth-Bedoya at The Conducting Institute. In 2024, Mr. Rudd was selected as a conducting fellow at the Texas New Music Festival in Houston, TX. His conducting mentors include Dr. Clifton Evans (OKC University), Miguel Harth-Bedoya (Rice University), Dr. Eldred Marshall (Mansfield Philharmonic), Dr. Michelle Perrin Blair (New Texas Symphony Orchestra), Felipe Tristan (Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra), Dr. Jeffrey Grogan (Baylor University), and Dr. Michael Alexander (Baylor University).
In 2017, Mr. Rudd co-founded the Mansfield Philharmonic (formerly the Next Gen Chamber Players) and served as its first Artistic Director and Conductor. The orchestra was featured in D Magazine in 2023 as "The Best Suburban Orchestra." In 2022, he was a founding teacher of the Mansfield Summer Strings Camp, where he currently conducts the Symphony Orchestra, co-teaches the Chamber Orchestra, and serves as Faculty Supervisor. In 2025, Mr. Rudd co-founded the Mansfield Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. An advocate for new music, he has long collaborated with modern composers and conducted the works of Kevin Day, Quinn Mason, Siobhan Cassidy Robinson, Armond Vance, David Lovrien, Justin Talamantez, and the late Ric Flauding. Mr. Rudd is an active member of the Texas Music Educators Association and the Texas Orchestra Directors Association.
Artistic Director
Dr. Eldred Marshall
Dr. Eldred Marshall began studying the piano at age six and played in public by age seven. His prodigious and inquisitive mind allowed him to master large swaths of the piano repertoire quickly as well as consistently win top prizes at the competitions he entered as a child. By 16, he debuted with orchestra, playing Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto with the Victor Valley Symphony Orchestra.
Before entering into Yale University, where he graduated with honors with a B.A. in Political Science, he had already performed all over the United States. The critically-acclaimed pianist has performed internationally: Spain, Italy, the Republic of San Marino, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, the Ukraine and the People’s Republic of China. He has performed the entire cycle of 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas in public, from memory, as a concentrated series, twice: once in Portland in 2007 and in San Francisco in 2008. He followed that project with a full West Coast (US) tour of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in 2008 and 2009. In 2016-2017, Marshall toured the US and made his Chinese debut with the Goldberg Variations. In 2018, repeated the tour, of both the US S and China, with Bach’s complete Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 – performed from memory. Upcoming recitals include debut appearances in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica. To celebrate Beethoven’s 250th Birthday in 2020, he will perform the cycle of 5 Beethoven piano concertos, the Choral Fantasy, and the cycle of 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas. Conductors with whom he has collaborated include K. C. Manji, Carlo Ponti, Beau Benson, Greg Grabowski, Kevin Torrefiel, Felix Torres, Michelle Merrill, Jonathan Moore, Jessica Morel and Daniel Wiley.
As an orchestral conductor, Marshall has led several international ensembles: The Ukrainian State Academic Orchestra (Kiev, Ukraine), the Kharkov Youth Symphony (Kharkov, Ukraine), the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra (Pleven, Bulgaria), the Vidin Philharmonic Orchestra (Vidin, Bulgaria), the Filharmonica Oltenia di Craiova (Craiova, Romania), and the Constanta “Black Sea” Philharmonic Orchestra (Constanta, Romania). In the United States, he has worked as the conductor for the Riverside (CA) Opera Institute’s Children’s Opera Division, and has served as assistant conductor of the Meadows Symphony Orchestra at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and the Opera dell’arte Ensemble (NYC). He has collaborated with the University of North Texas (UNT) Symphony Orchestra. Currently, he is the Artistic Director/Conductor of the Mansfield Philharmonic, in Mansfield, TX.
In addition to his activities as a concert pianist and orchestra conductor, Marshall is the Artist-in-Residence and Associate Director of Music at First United Methodist Church in Garland, TX, where he is the founder and curator of the West Avenue B Community Concert Series. Further, Marshall is the Music Director/Conductor of the Music Ministry Conservatory Choir.
Marshall earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degree from UNT in 2018. Additionally, he earned three Master of Music degrees from SMU: piano (2011), organ (2012) and orchestral conducting (2013). Institutions at which he has taught include UNT, SMU, and North Texas Central College. His doctoral dissertation topic was on the art of conducting piano concerti from the piano – performance practice, discipline, and whether or not it is “real conducting.”
Sectional Coaches
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Strings
Adriana Medina, violin/string coordinator Thao Pham, violin/viola Tracie Walker, viola Cassidy Robinson, cello Joseph Fisher-Schramm, bass |
Woodwind/Brass/Percussion
Derek Smilowski, flute/woodwind coordinator Martin Wells, bassoon Justin Talamantez, trumpet/brass coordinator Christian Canales, trombone Ian Brothers, percussion coordinator |