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ZACK BRADLEY TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
By practising three hours a day, nine-year-old Gracie Louis is becoming a pro on the flute.
As part of Sistema NB, an after-school youth music education program offered throughout the province by the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, Gracie practises daily, learning an instrument two years ago that she had no clue how to play.
“I wish I could be playing even more,” laughs Gracie, who joined the free after-school program in 2014. “I totally recommend it for others my age.”
She will be performing with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra on Friday in a free outdoor concert held during the 2016 Atlantic Nationals auto show. The four-hour Pops NB concert will feature 300 youth orchestra members from across the province, with many musicians hailing from Metro Moncton.
“It’s important to bring music to the world,” says Gracie, who was spending all Tuesday practising. “Even though kids can be small, we have a bunch of potential.”
Brady Doyle practises the bassoon with his fellow Sistema NB orchestral members on Tuesday at Crandall University in Moncton. PHOTO: ZACK BRADLEY/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
Starting at 11 a.m. Friday, the public is invited to swing by the stage on Main Street near city hall to catch the excitement. Three orchestras will perform throughout the concert, with two of them featuring youths aged 10 and up, and the other a mix of young members and their instructors.
“It’s going to be a really fun celebration for the kids,” says Ken MacLeod, CEO of NBYO.“They work hard all year long and its a big payoff for them.”
Antonio Delgado, music director and conductor for NBYO, instructs musicians as they prepare for their concert. PHOTO: TIMES & TRANSCRIPT ARCHIVE
This is the second time the group has performed during the Atlantic Nationals, with last year’s concert drawing about 6,000 spectators and being one of the biggest shows for the children.
“Who knew that classic cars and classic music would go well together? But they do,” says MacLeod, who hopes this year’s audience will be even larger.“It’s going to be a great concert for people who don’t know they like orchestral music.”
Peter Lee plays the double bass on Thursday as he gears up for a performance on Friday in Moncton. PHOTO: ZACK BRADLEY/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
As the largest youth orchestra in Canada, NBYO has about 800 youth members from across the province, with many of them arriving through the Sistema program, which draws children from economically disadvantaged families or from immigrant families in New Brunswick.
“The orchestra is a very powerful tool for social development and change,” says MacLeod.“It’s like being part of an ultimate society. It requires things like focus and discipline, which means these kids are learning really good values that are essential for the orchestra but also for a successful life.”
Andon Cormier practises the viola on Tuesday as he prepares for a concert on Friday in downtown Moncton. PHOTO: ZACK BRADLEY/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
MacLeod says he is always amazed by the increased confidence he sees in the children after they join the program.
“We tell them, ‘If you can do this, you can do anything,’ and we mean it,” says MacLeod.
The concert on Friday will see Moncton country band The Divorcees joined the orchestral members in their performance.
Spectators will also hear from two youth choirs: Coastal Sound, a visiting group from Vancouver, and Jeunes chanteurs d’Acadie, a francophone choir from Moncton who just returned from a trip to Vancouver.
