For 101 Years, the Winnipeg Youth Orchestras have been educating and inspiring music students to achieve musical greatness, while allowing them to have a lot of fun playing music with others.
This Monday, December 2nd at the Desautels Concert Hall at 7pm, all three orchestras that make up the Winnipeg Youth Orchestra program will be performing in a concert that they are calling Fall Fantasia.
Featuring the Youth Strings, the Youth Concert Orchestra and the Youth Symphony Orchestra, this concert is sure to be just fantastic. A fantastic way to hear and enjoy the generation of orchestral musicians.
For many musicians, the memories they take away with them from their experiences in the WYO programs last all their lives. Andrea Bell is the conductor of the Winnipeg Youth Symphony, as a student she took part in all three orchestras. “It really has been a huge part of my life. I have friendships from those orchestra days that have lasted until now.”
The Fall Fantasia concert will take place at the brand new Desautels Concert Hall at the University of Manitoba. Both Bell and the members of the WYO are extremely excited to perform in the new space and take advantage of all the hall has to offer.
The Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra will be performing three selections. Modest Mussorgsky's epic Night on Bald Mountain, Jean Sibelius' folksy first movement of his Symphony no 2 and the lively and joyous Overture to Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
When it comes to picking music for the season, the auditions, and the availability of instruments, help Bell determine what the Orchestra is going to play. “We do auditions in the spring, and as soon as I have that roster of musicians set, that is when my brain starts working away at ‘here’s my wish list and would it work with these folks.”
One of the things on Bell’s wish list this year was Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain. “Night on Bald Mountain was one of those ones that I have wanted to do, and I just have a fantastic brass section this year, so that one I thought would be very fun. And the kids love it! We are having a great time with that.”
The first movement of Sibelius’ 2nd Symphony has offered some wonderful pedagogical lessons for the students. As Bell says, “It’s funny how just the time signature and the counting is tricky for the students. Big chunks of it are in 6/4 and a lot of students have not even seen that before.” The members of the orchestra have been up for the challenge. “It’s coming along nicely. The symphony has really pushed them, and they have really succeeded. It is going to be fantastic.”
Mozart’s Overture to the Magis Flute is precision throughout the orchestra, and particularly the strings. “Mozart needs to sound simple, clean, and clear. With some of the bigger more bombastic kinds of pieces, you can get away with a missed articulation...but in the Mozart it just needs to sound clean and so precise. That has been a big challenge for the string players for sure.”
Fall Fantasia with the Winnipeg Youth Orchestras is sure to be an enjoyable and uplifting experience. Seeing all these wonderful, young players perform this music at an extremely high level while at the same time having fun will be inspirational for anyone. The concert takes place on Monday, December 2nd at the Desautels Concert Hall at 7pm.