NECOM and the young musicians of New England continue to “punch above their weight” by again having record numbers of orchestral musicians selected for the 2018 Regional Youth Orchestra program. As a result of auditions at the end of 2017, 13 Armidale students were offered places in RYO 2018, which sees students from all Conservatoria across the state coming together to learn difficult orchestral repertoire under the tutelage of industry-level teachers and conductors. The graph below shows the high proportion of students from Armidale who were invited to take part in this year’s workshops and performances:
The first project of the year involved a performance at the Sydney Opera House in early May, with members of the Australian World Orchestra delivering workshops and performing alongside the student musicians. The focus of the intensive rehearsals centred on Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony and a new work by Australian Natalie Williams, titled XPT. Students who took part in the May performance were Jess Hughes, David Tan, Emily Thompson, Elinor Warwick (violin), Mia Baivucago (viola), Disa Smart and Clare Warwick (cello).
Students from Armidale are now preparing to take part in the RYO Opera Australia Orchestra (OAO) Project to be held in Sydney from 9-13 July. 2018. We trust they will all have a great time learning from a different team of teachers, and we thank them in advance for being wonderful ambassadors for New England music.