It has been very busy time at Melbourne Youth Music! Last weekend saw the culmination of Term 2’s work with performances by all ensembles at Iwaki Auditorium and the South Melbourne Town Hall. More than 300 Saturday Music Members performed over the course of two days, in a concert festival which showcased just how much musical development is being achieved at MYM. It was encouraging to see such strong audience numbers across all performances as well.

The Melbourne Youth Junior Strings (MYJS) were first to perform, under the baton of guest conductor and MYJS tutor, Nathan Scerri. Nathan is a veteran of the Saturday Music Program, and it is wonderful to see his association with MYM continuing. MYJS impressed the audience with their display of enthusiasm and energy. The Melbourne Youth Wind Symphony (MYWS) were next to take the stage with conductor Rick Plummer on the podium. MYWS were guided through a variety of repertoire which highlighted their ability to play as a blended, balanced ensemble. It was great to see that the band has increased in size since last term! This performance, along with MYWS’s performances at the recent MYM Bands Festival, have certainly allowed the musicians to gain some invaluable performance experience.

After a short break our second performance at Iwaki commenced. This performance featured both the Melbourne Youth Strings (MYS) and the Percy Grainger Youth Orchestra (PGYO). MYS, conducted by Mary Johnston performed works by Holst, Massenet and Rimsky-Korsakov. The string playing was at an extremely high standard, especially for such a challenging program! Phoebe Russell, Principal Double Bass of MYO, joined MYS as soloist giving a beautiful performance of Massenet’s Meditation. PGYO closed the concert, with a demanding and exciting program. The orchestra, with Conductor Stefan Cassomenos, started with Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, which certainly gave the string players a thorough warm up! This was followed by three movements of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.2. This really illustrated how much this orchestra has improved this year. Stefan’s enthusiasm and passion is a real inspiration for the orchestra, and it was clear that the musicians enjoyed the performance opportunity immensely.

On Sunday June 27, Melbourne Youth Orchestra presented a very special all Bartok program at the South Melbourne Town Hall. It was an ambitious program, but once again, conductor Fabian Russell and the orchestra raised the bar in a most impressive musical display. The Bartok Divertimento was first on the program with our musicians being joined by esteemed mentors Kristian Winther, Monica Curro, Christopher Moore, Sharon Draper and Stephen Newton. Next on the program was Bartok’s Viola Concerto and Christopher Moore, Principal Viola of the Australian Chamber Orchestra featured as soloist, giving his very first performance of the work. His account seemed effortless, and very natural, and the interplay between the orchestra, soloist and conductor was enjoyable to observe. The concert concluded with the Concerto for Orchestra with every section of the orchestra performing with vigour and excitement, and the result was remarkable. Fabian and the musicians should be very proud of their achievements! The remainder of the 2010 concert season is sure to be an exciting one.