Kyra Gurath has been in the South Dakota Youth Symphony since she was 8 years old, making her senior year her 9th year of participation in the advanced ensemble. The last six of those years she has been concertmaster of the Youth Orchestra. Her plans for the future include attending Luther College in Decorah, Iowa as a violin performance major with a minor in vocal performance. She recently won the Young Musicians Concerto Competition with her performance of the Saint Saens Violin Concerto No. 3. In addition to being concertmaster of YO, she has been leading the Washington Symphony Orchestra for four years, and made All-State and Honors Orchestra all four years. Her favorite memory in YO was playing Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in Kansas City.