The following article is from today's Times & Transcript
For tickets to the show go here or visit the NBYO site.
Prepare to be dazzled.
That's the promise from the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra for music lovers who attend its 2010 season opener tomorrow in Moncton.
From the classics, to Broadway to lively Latin music, the Wesleyan Celebration Centre will resonate with the sounds of the 70-piece orchestra under the direction of long-time conductor and music professor emeritus James Mark.
Guest conductor for the evening is renowned Venezuelan music director Antonio Delgado, who is in Moncton working with the NBYO's Sistema New Brunswick music education program, developed in his home country. Delgado is also the music director of Teatro TereseCarreno, the largest art centre in Latin America.
Classic works on the program include compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, as well as a Latin piece, Danzon No. 2, arranged by Marquez.
A group of local high school music students will perform as an ensemble in the lobby of the Celebration Centre after the concert as part of an experiment involving the NBYO organization and the School District 2 to offer enhanced music training and opportunities. Some will also have the chance to sit in the orchestra during its afternoon rehearsal. School District 2 represents English-language schools in southeastern New Brunswick.
NBYO president Ken MacLeod says part of the NBYO's mission is to inspire excellence through learning and performing, to allow the young musicians to be the best they can be while engaging as many youngsters as possible at every level. Orchestra members range in age from 11 to 22 years of age.
As part of the orchestra, he says, they learn important life lessons; from the value of hard work and determination to reinforcing the virtues of mutual respect and team work, as well as building confidence and self-esteem, all while honing their musical skills.
MacLeod calls the NBYO one of the "most distinguished orchestras in Canada," but that's more than just a 'proud father' talking. The orchestra has the accolades to back up the boast.
The NBYO earned the national Betty Webster Award from Orchestras Canada for its outstanding contribution through leadership, education and volunteerism. It was also awarded New Brunswick's Lieutenant-Governor's Dialogue Award which honours role models who champion the principles of harmony and respect between the province's English- and French-speaking communities, the only award of its kind in Canada.
It has been invited to perform at New York City's prestigious Carnegie Hall, at the Auditorium Paganini in Parma, Italy and, in 2007, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, during its Forbidden City Tour.
These are world-class performance stages whose audiences came out to hear New Brunswick youth perform, MacLeod says, providing extraordinary opportunities to showcase the calibre of talent of these young musicians.
The orchestra has also produced three CDs and its first DVD was created at the Blues on the Boulevard concert last year.
The NBYO has performed for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and given a world-premiere performance of the St. Croix Island Suite in a 2004 concert commemorating the arrival of French settlers in St. Croix.
The orchestra also took the stage at the 2008 East Coast Music Awards, where it won the award for Classical Recording of the year, and opened the 2009 Ford World Men's Curling Championships in Moncton.
MacLeod is convinced the NBYO has played an important part in raising awareness of orchestral and classical music in New Brunswick, citing the growing number of patrons and the interest of youngsters wanting to learn music and join the orchestra.
In 2002, the NBYO played to a total of about 1,500 people. Last year, audiences totalled more than 15,000, MacLeod said.
Part of the reason behind its burgeoning popularity is innovative programming, like the March 2009 Blues on the Boulevard concert which featured blues artist and songwriter Matt Andersen and Acadian quartet Les Muses.
The concert site was filled, MacLeod said, and many of those who came to hear Andersen and Les Muses left with a whole new appreciation of orchestral music, vowing to return.
Close to half of the orchestra is from or studies in southeastern New Brunswick. Thousands of N.B. youngsters have belonged to the orchestra since its launch in 1965, making it the oldest of Canada's youth orchestras. Scores of young hopefuls audition every year for a seat in the orchestra. NBYO executive director Don Matheson said the NBYO is "blessed with talent," as is the province.
"There is a treasure trove of talent" across New Brunswick, he says. "People are coming out of the shows dazzled. They had no idea" of the calibre and talent and the richness of the musical program.
And talent isn't confined to those with means, Matheson said.
"It's a wonderful community equalizer and development opportunity."
Matheson described part of the NBYO's mission as social outreach through music, providing opportunities where none would otherwise be likely. "It's a magnificent obsession," he said.
Many of the performers will go on to study music after they leave the orchestra. But, if they don't, their lives will have been enriched as a result of the educational, cultural and social experiences, Matheson said.
The orchestra's next scheduled concerts are Feb. 7 at the Imperial Theatre in Saint John and March 14 at The Playhouse in Fredericton.
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