Trio of Murrysville musicians headed to Portugal with Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra

Jun. 16—A.J. Schmidt doesn't remember why he first chose to take up flute at the end of his third-grade year.

But his father does.

"He came home at nine years old and said, 'I can make a sound on it, and it's pretty,'" said Schmidt's father Judd, who is getting ready to send his son off with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for a 10-day trip to Portugal, where he will perform both flute and piccolo at four concerts, while spending a few days touring the coastal European country.

"Most of us have never been this far away," said Schmidt, 15, of Murrysville. "I'm really looking forward to the food."

Orchestra staff members are looking forward to performances in places like Lisbon, Porto and the Caza da Cultura de Góis, where they will be the first American orchestra to perform in the city's theater, according to PYSO Executive Director Bill Powers.

"It's a real opportunity for a great cultural ambassadorship, to perform there and engage that community," Powers said. "When we go to Lisbon, we'll perform just outside the city at the Casino Estoril, which was the casino that Ian Fleming partly based 'Casino Royale' on when he was writing the James Bond novels."

Schmidt is not the only Murrysville resident headed overseas. Anna Qin and Grace Wang of Murrysville will also be performing with the PYSO.

Schmidt and Qin are both students of Murrysville private music educator Dan Parasky, who said it's always a joy to see students excel.

"If someone shows a lot of potential, I try to motivate them to enjoy the work that's involved in preparing for something audition-based," said Parasky, who's been teaching private lessons in Murrysville since 2001. "When someone has a genuine spark and interest in excelling, you just find the right balance to motivate them while also working on things like tone, scales and technique.

Schmidt was ready to put in the work.

"We worked on audition stuff for two years," Schmidt said. "In the preliminary round, you send in a recording, then the second round is done in-person if you don't get eliminated."

Schmidt and Qin made the roster of about 90 musicians who will take the trip and perform pieces including Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 and Rossini's "William Tell Overture."

Schmidt said he's mostly worried about packing properly.

"Knowing how to pack light, but also be prepared, is tough," he said. "Especially because all of us woodwinds have screwdrivers that we need, the double-reed players have reed knives, and we can't have that stuff in our instrument cases."

Airport-security concerns aside, Schmidt said he's excited for the trip, particularly because the PYSO only travels internationally once every few years. The orchestra leaves June 20 and will return in early July.

Parasky said it's great for them to be performing so far outside of Pittsburgh.

"It's really just about the exposure to the wider world of music," he said. "There's a whole world of international music out there and it's about exposing students to the arts."

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .