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The conductor of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra says the group’s European tour that saw members of the ensemble première a piece to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War has been an experience to broaden horizons and learn more about the world.
The 75-member orchestra’s last concert performance before returning home takes place Wednesday at Smetana Hall, Municipal House in Prague, Czech Republic.
“It’s been a great event. It’s so good for our kids to see all the stages, the kinds of audiences and to play the same places great orchestras are performing,” said Antonio Delgado.
“It’s going to be so beneficial to their growth as musicians but also as citizens. They’re part of a larger worldwide community.”
As the only Canadian orchestra in the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Competition, the members performed in Vienna, where they premièred the piece Dream of Dawn by Kevin Lau, composer in residence for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
The song was commissioned to commemorate Canada’s role in the First World War.
It was played on the home stage of the Vienna Philharmonic.
“It was really a special treat that the composer travelled here to Vienna to be part of that world première of the music he composed,” said Ken MacLeod, CEO of the youth orchestra.
“He told the kids that he has seen and heard a lot of very fine orchestras but very rarely has he seen such passion and joy in a performance as he saw with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra.
MacLeod said the performance was poignant, being performed in the country that played a pivotal role in starting the First World War a century ago.
“What a great context to talk about the war, what it meant and what it means for young people today and looking ahead to the future,” he said, noting the youth orchestra was part of a group of more than 40 ensembles featuring almost 2,000 people.
The orchestra also performed Lau’s piece during a public lecture Monday at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.
“We played after the first speaker and afterwards, the second speaker was so emotional, she couldn’t speak for a moment,”MacLeod said.
“It was a nice indication of the music and the performance.”
During the tour, members also got to learn from the world’s best, attending a seminar at the Vienna University of Music with professors Christoph Ehrenfellner and Georg Mark.
This is a return engagement for the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra. In July 2011 the orchestra played in several venues in Vienna, and released the related CD Musikfreunde: Friends of Music.
The event has also seen the orchestra perform in Germany.
The orchestra will return to perform its new work as part of concerts at five locations in New Brunswick during the 2014-15 season, as well as in Ottawa. The tour’s music will also be recorded for a CD to be released in the fall of 2014.
