The National Symphony Youth Orchestra is to go on its first overseas tour next month.
Ninety music students from Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and the US are to gather at the Miaobei Art Center in Miaoli County on July 20 to form the third edition of the youth orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), the group’s parent organization, told reporters in Taipei on Wednesday last week.
In addition to a tour of Taiwan at the end of a training course and rehearsals later this month, the youth orchestra is to perform in Singapore and Thailand, NSO music director Jun Markl said at the news conference.
Photo: CNA
The overseas tour marks a new chapter for the NSO and would enable the students to make friends and learn about other cultures as they bring Taiwan’s energy to the world with their music, he said.
Markl chose pieces that highlight solo performances to help the students gain experience, NSO executive director Lydia Wen-chen Kuo (郭玟岑) said.
The youth orchestra is one of the educational programs Markl introduced since he took over as music director in January 2022 to offer young musicians real-world experiences of working in an orchestra.
Launched in summer last year, the youth orchestra is comprised of musicians younger than 18 who are primarily selected through an audition to participate in the orchestra’s training and performances scheduled during summer and winter school vacations.
Viola player Chou Pie-en Chou (周霈恩), who is to begin senior high school after the summer, said she was nervous and excited about joining the orchestra, as it was her first time performing in the program, and the music planned for the tour was not easy.
During the tour, the orchestra is to perform Concertino Cusqueno by American composer Gabriela Lena Frank, Violin Concerto, Op. 14 by American composer Samuel Barber, Three-Cornered Hat Suite No. 2 by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla and Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34 by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Violinist Richard Lin (林品任), the guest musician on the NSO’s Japanese tour in May last year, is to play Barber’s piece with the youth orchestra on tour.
The “Dreams Ablaze” tour is to begin with concerts at the Miaobei Art Center in Miaoli County on Thursday next week, the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, also known as Weiwuying, on Friday next week and the National Concert Hall in Taipei on Saturday next week.
For the first of two concerts at the Conservatory Concert Hall of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore on Aug. 1, NSO acting concertmaster Teng Hao-tun (鄧皓敦) and principal flutist Anders Norell would be joined by fellow lecturer Ju May-lin (朱玫玲) and select youth orchestra members in performing chamber music.
The orchestra would perform the tour program in the second concert in Singapore on Aug. 2 and at Nakhon Pathom MACM Hall in Salaya, Thailand, on Aug. 4.
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