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LORI GALLAGHER THE DAILY GLEANER
Don’t miss your chance to see the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra when this group of talented young musicians take the stage in Fredericton on Sunday afternoon.
This will be your only opportunity to see the NBYO perform in the capital city this season.
“The NBYO is a touring orchestra. We are in a different town or city in New Brunswick each month during the season,” says Ken MacLeod, CEO of the NBYO. “Because we are a provincial youth orchestra, geography prevents us from meeting every week.”
That’s why they hold rehearsal concert weekends in different locations.
“We’re always in Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John every season, and then we alternate the other ones. We might be in Woodstock or Sackville or Edmundston or Miramichi,” he says. “It’s great that NBYO can be on the road and take music all over the province.”
The theme of this weekend’s concert is Inspiring Excellence.
“We actually chose the theme for this season from our mission statement. The mission statement for the NBYO is to inspire excellence among children and youth through learning and performing orchestral music,” says Mac-Leod.
“The whole idea behind the NBYO is it’s of course about great music, but it’s also about individuals achieving their full potential.”
To play music and to play in an orchestra takes focus, discipline and mutual respect because you’re working in an ensemble setting, he says, as well as a lot of teamwork and co-operation.
“We’re also really interested in those social outcomes,” he says.“Some of our musicians will go on to study music and perform professionally, and others will go on to other professions and trades and a whole variety of things.”
There are currently 75 musicians in the NBYO, ranging in age from 12 to 22 years old. The musicians are from all over the province, including 11 from Fredericton and the surrounding areas.
“When you think about it, what a great representation of New Brunswick. It’s young people, anglophone and francophone, from urban and rural settings in the province,”says MacLeod.
“And if you look at our wider program, we also now have our Sistema New Brunswick program in eight communities in the province, expanding our breadth and reach even more, including First Nation communities.”
The Fredericton concert is taking place on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 2 p.m. in the Theâtre Bernard-Poirier at the Centre Communautaire Sainte Anne, 715 Priestman St. It will feature a variety of pieces from Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Moncayo and Piazzolla.
“I think for those who are regular concert-goers, they will appreciate the professionalism, the dedication and certainly the talent of these young musicians. They’re performing at a very high level,” says MacLeod.
Those who aren’t as familiar with orchestral music may be pleasantly surprised.
“When we have guest artists, people will come because they’re familiar with the guest artist but ultimately they leave saying that orchestra was fantastic,” he says. “So people who aren’t as familiar will experience the power of live music and the power of a full symphonic orchestra, because it’s also a physical experience.”
There really is nothing quite like live music.
“And these are young people, full of energy and passion, and their excitement and enthusiasm inevitably shows in the performance of the music,” says MacLeod. “You can’t help but leave with a smile on your face after [experiencing] the joy of music in a live concert performance.”
He believes New Brunswickers should be incredibly proud of the NBYO.
“It’s a very accomplished youth orchestra program. It’s literally one of the largest youth music programs in Canada, and it’s certainly one of the most distinguished in its recent history,” he says.
“It’s included things like five international tours in the last 10 or 12 years, five CD recordings, an East Coast Music Award, guest artist collaborations with really well-known New Brunswickers like David Myles and Matt Andersen, and others like Jill Barber and Radio Radio.”
The Sistema New Brunswick program is the largest of its kind in Canada and is a leader, not just in Canada, but internationally, he says.
Launched in 2009, the program offers school-age children an opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument in an orchestral setting. In 2015, the NBYO received the Prime Minister’s Award for Social Innovation for the work and leadership of Sistema New Brunswick in Canada.
“There is a lot of talent in New Brunswick and if we provide opportunities for kids, they will rise to the challenge and produce some extraordinary results. We’re seeing that now through the NBYO with one of the largest and most accomplished programs in Canada,” says MacLeod. “It’s something to be proud of. I’ve heard the term New Brunswick proud and I think the NBYO is certainly a part of that story.”
Tickets for Sunday’s concert can be purchased at Read’s Newsstand & Café, Westminster Books and the University of New Brunswick’s Centre for Musical Arts in Fredericton, as well as at the theatre an hour before concert time on performance day.
