With bows in hands and strings at their finger tips, the Renton Youth Symphony and Orchestra is ready for its Winter Concert.

“This is a great opportunity for local kids to play classical music,” said conductor Alexei Girsh with a Russian accent. “Some schools don’t have a symphony program.”

Students will be joined by professional pianist Clint Gawthrop at Sunday’s winter performance.

The City of Renton sponsored RYOS since 1986 as if it were a class, collecting fees twice a year.

Though the program needs about 30 students to be financially possible, only about 25 students were involved this year, said president Renee Dawson.

RYOS used a reserve fund to pay for the missing fees; but without more students it could run out of money next year, she said.

The program pulls mostly junior high and high school students from the Eastside and South King County.

New orchestras in Bellevue and the Eastside started competing for students.

RYOS allows students to participate in ensembles and work with a professional conductor. Girsh, who has been the conductor for about 12 years, founded the Concert Opera of Seattle. He was formally educated in his hometown, St. Petersburg, Russia.

The program has two main performances each year as a culminating production of the class. The second is in May.