Ask about the origin of the High Plains Youth Symphony and you get a feeling of spontaneous generation.

No one person founded the ensemble, and Amy Anderson was named its music director only after its first concert.

It came into being simply because several people felt a need for it. And they are, for the most part, musicians with one thing in common: They all have talented kids who sought an orchestra equal to their abilities.

Thus the HPYS — which performs today at Mountain View United Methodist Church — was founded to give the community an ensemble with standards that challenge young musicians considering music as a profession.

"These standards are very high," says Joan Norman, president of the HPYS board, "and the kids are very engaged. Amy Anderson knows how to help them reach their full potential."

Norman, a Boulder attorney, is the only non-musician on the board. Her 15-year-old daughter, Laura, plays in the violin section of the orchestra.

Yoshiyuki Ishikawa, a further charter member of the board and father of 14-year-old HPYS violinist Marisa, is a member of the music faculty at the University of Colorado.

"I wanted Marisa to be involved in an orchestra focused on quality performances," says Ishikawa, who conducted the debut concert of the ensemble last November.

"It's important that kids have this educational experience and share it with each other. And Anderson knows how to make this an exciting adventure for them."

At CU Ishikawa is the mentor of Arundo Winds, the graduate wind quintet in residence at CU and also a resident ensemble with High Plains.

"The Arundo just won the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition," Ishikawa says, "and working with HPYS members emphasizes its commitment to outreach activities."

It's not surprising that Sue Levine was among the movers who organized High Plains, for — in addition to her own career as a violinist and teacher — she is executive director of the Boulder Philharmonic.

"We want the best we can get for our kids," says Levine, whose offspring Sarah, Naiomi and David are in HPYS's string sections.

And Levine has seen to it that the Phil is actively involved in the orchestra's program. Its music director, Michael Butterman, has conducted rehearsals of the ensemble.

Also actively involved in HPYS activities is Amy Gesmer-Packman, founder of Boulder Suzuki Strings and a charter member of the orchestra's board.

Although Anderson settled in Boulder with her family a decade ago, until her appointment as HPYS music director, she has been the city's best-kept musical secret.

A Michigan native trained first as a pianist, Anderson has been a familiar figure in German opera houses and with that country's orchestras.

Her March concert with the HPYS marked her local debut.

"There were no youth orchestras where I grew up," says Anderson, who has studied with — among others — Murray Sidlin, David Zinman and Gustav Meier and served on the faculty of Berlin's Academy of the Arts.

"I see this orchestra as a training ensemble for young people who will have music as part of their lives. I want them to be passionately connected with music."

The HPYS currently has 40 members and continues to grow as its reputation spreads.

Its members range in age from 13 to 18, and Anderson currently is organizing a second ensemble solely for strings.

This week's program, a sampler of symphonic movements, includes works by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Schubert.

In June Anderson conducts the annual Young People's Concerts of the Colorado Music Festival and in July she will be on the podium for "South Pacific" and "Man of La Mancha," the two works slated for the summer's Colorado Light Opera at CU.

"I'm blown away by what Amy Anderson has already achieved with this group," Joan Norman says of the HPYS. "And the kids love her!"