Vermont Youth Orchestra –
Symphony of Youthful Spirit
& Sophisticated Passion
By Margaret Michniewicz
When she was just two years of age, Olivia Daniel of Starksboro spotted a group of violinists playing on Burlington’s Church Street. Peering up at her mother she demanded, as only a child can, “When am I going to get my violin?”
Olivia – now a high school senior and musician in the Vermont Youth Orchestra (VYO) – remembers being determined. “Of course my mother thought I would let it go, but six months later I was still bugging her about it so she finally let me take lessons,” Olivia says with a smile. She’s been playing the violin ever since, and ten of those years have been spent immersed in music education through the programs of the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association (VYOA).
As have most of her VYO colleagues, Olivia has ascended upward through the octaves, if you will, in a series of VYOA educational and performance opportunities.
“I started with Presto for a year and then moved to Strings,” Olivia explains. (Presto is an introduction to ensemble playing for beginning string players; Vermont Youth Strings provides the next level of orchestral playing.) “I spent two years each in Vermont Youth Strings, Vermont Youth Sinfonia, and Vermont Youth Philharmonia. This is my fourth year in VYO.”
Following a mid-October Sunday afternoon rehearsal at the Elley-Long Music Center in Colchester, Olivia and six of her colleagues acquainted us with their orchestra, describing memorable experiences with the VYOA and telling us a bit about themselves. Joining Olivia were fellow violinists Sally Bruce, 17, and 16-year-old Daphnée Vandal; trumpeter Sasha Torrens-Sperry, 16; flutist Emily Wiggett, 17; 18-year-old cellist Brianna Wood-Dunbar; and Anna Karnezos, 17, who plays viola.
Sally, as principal violinist, has the prestige and responsibility of being the orchestra’s “concertmaster,” now in her second year.
This year, according to its executive director Caroline Whiddon, VYOA is educating nearly 500 musicians each week which, she adds, “gives me great hope for the future of music, and all of the arts, in Vermont.”
Reflective of VYOA itself, these seven musicians hail from wide-ranging parts of the state. Emily, for example, travels to rehearsal each week from the Northeast Kingdom. As they arrive for practice and enthusiastically greet one another, it’s apparent that close bonds have been formed among the group. “It’s been a really great place for me to meet many of my closest friends,” Sally confirms. Unpacking instruments and sheet music for their upcoming winter concert program, they animatedly discuss the latest news of their lives; an indignant reprimand is directed at Anna for having been tight-lipped about it being her birthday.
It’s merely a week after the VYO’s Fall Concert, which featured Sally’s solo performance of the first movement of Saint-Saens’ Violin Concerto No. 3, and included pieces by Brahms and Percy Grainger, and Tchaikovsky’s stirring Fantasy Overture from Romeo & Juliet. But there’s no time to miss a beat – they now must turn attention to perfecting the compositions for January’s Winter Concert – which will be highlighted by a solemn Brahms piano concerto (played by VYO’s Tim Woos) and Dvořák’s renowned Symphony No. 8.
Having taken their places on the stage at Elley-Long, the 95 musicians of the orchestra look to Maestro Andrew Massey, currently the VYO’s interim conductor, who signals concertmaster Sally to stand in the front and lead the group through its tuning, the customary responsibility of the principal violinist. Completing this Sally takes her seat and, with the rest of the group, settles in as Massey gets the week’s rehearsal underway.
It is the students who, like Olivia and Sally, have attained the highest level of performance skills who earn a seat in the VYO – a prestigious and highly-acclaimed organization, but by no means an exclusive, elitist one.
“[Surprisingly perhaps,], the VYOA is one of the largest youth orchestra associations in the country, with a program comparable in size to those located in much bigger cities, like Seattle, Albuquerque, and Milwaukee,” notes Whiddon. VYOA’s programs even draw students from neighboring states such as New Hampshire and New York, who make the trek each week to participate.
“There is no other orchestral and choral program as comprehensive as the VYOA in this state, and we make it a goal to be accessible to as many students as possible,” Whiddon says.
That accessibility, she adds, is never threatened by financial concerns. Whiddon says that “Several VYOA parents have been laid off in recent months and we have provided whatever financial aid was necessary to keep their children participating.
“I’ve been executive director of the VYOA for nearly 12 years now,” she continues, “and during that time we have never turned a student away because they couldn’t pay their tuition bill. In fact, we’ve had students who have grown up through our program – spending anywhere from five to eight years with us – and because they are living below the poverty line we underwrite the entire cost of their participation.”
Whiddon reports that, so far in 2009, the VYOA has provided approximately $38,000 in financial aid, partially funded through the organization’s endowment, as well as through support from contributing annual donors.
According to the VYOA’s promotional literature, donations to the non-profit through its annual fund campaign help provide students with a range of benefits. These include keeping tuition costs as low as possible and providing scholarships, purchasing new music, repairing instruments, bringing in guest artists to work with the young musicians, and sending the students out to Vermont public schools for educational presentations.
The organization’s Music Alive Composer-in-Residence program was funded by a $65,000 grant recently awarded to the VYOA by Meet The Composer and the League of American Orchestras. The grant is traditionally given to professional orchestras; the VYO is only the second youth orchestra in the country to receive a Meet The Composer residency award. In August, composer Robert Paterson was named to this position for 2009-12 and will spend three weeks a year in Vermont, working directly with VYO musicians, from now through 2012.
In a recent blog posting on the VYOA’s Web site, Daphnée described a class she participated in: “For one of my electives, I’m taking a class called ‘Meet the Moderns’ with our Composer-in-Residence, Rob Paterson. I didn’t know what to expect, but as the week has progressed, I am enjoying his different tastes in music and interpreting with us what we think is ‘Modern Music’. On Wednesday, he played some his own compositions and they were amazing! I especially loved the piece he wrote for his own wedding that featured six trumpets. The harmonies were fantastic and you could almost hear the church bells in the music. I am so looking forward to playing his music and to hearing more of his compositions.”
“People may not realize that every time the Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) performs, several of the musicians on stage are graduates of the VYOA,” Whiddon says, adding: “Recently I attended [a] Vermont Symphony performance at the Flynn and saw several VYOA alumni onstage, including violinists Mary Gibson and Sophia Hirsch.
“We truly are raising the next generation of musicians and music lovers, and many of the students in our programs right now have weekly private lessons with alumni who came through our programs ten, twenty, or thirty years ago.”
In 1957, a group of parents “dedicated to promoting musical opportunities for Burlington area youth” formed the Friends of Music for Youth (FMY). Six years later saw the premier of the Vermont Youth Orchestra. Approximately three decades later, Troy Peters was hired. In the ensuing 15 years in his tenure as music director and conductor, Peters guided the artistic vision for the organization, which has tripled in size since its inception. (In 1997, FMY formally changed its name to Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, and became a full-fledged non-profit organization.)
The twenty-first century has already been an exciting and successful period for the organization, now over 45 years old, starting with the move to a home of their own in the new Elley-Long Music Center at Saint Michael’s College. 2004 marked the VYO’s debut in the hallowed venue of Carnegie Hall, and the following year the young musicians had the honor of performing with internationally-renowned violinist Midori. The past two years have seen the group perform abroad in China and France.
Conducting Electricity
“They’re playing the Dvořák!”
The cry of recognition comes from a group of young teens entering the Elley-Long building – perhaps members of the next VYOA group to rehearse later this afternoon. On hearing a passage from the Czech composer’s eighth symphony, they dash to the hall itself for a closer view of their older VYO colleagues in rehearsal.
“It’s an epic piece,” enthuses Emily when we talk later. “During our first week of rehearsal, Mr. Peters told us that we would be performing this piece and everyone’s faces lit up. We’re all so excited to play it.”
The orchestra is still in the early phase of winter concert rehearsals, so those of us present in the music hall are treated to tantalizingly abbreviated passages of the symphony by the Romantic composer… Though producing an impressively rich sound together, Maestro Massey keeps bringing the group to abrupt halts – for example, calling on the strings, as Emily describes it, to be perfectly in time, with a delicate ‘pizz’ – because the principal flute part has an important counter-melody that must be heard over the broad clarinet solo.
While the conductor’s focus is on one section, a grin is exchanged between a pair of French horn players; a boy over in the bassoon section emits a loud yawn. But when Massey turns back to the full orchestra, the players sit back up at attention, ready to hit their cue. The resulting sound is enthralling. And this is just rehearsal.
For Olivia, it’s exciting to go from solo practice at home during the week to playing together. “It makes the music make sense. Without the other members of the group it doesn’t sound like music, it’s disjointed – but when you put everyone together, it’s like magic.”
“Most of our students will not go on to become professional musicians – and that’s okay because it’s not our goal,” says Whiddon. “But from the second grade through high school we provide a place where students who wish to study music at a high level can gather and participate in this incredibly powerful shared experience. There’s nothing like playing a Brahms symphony for the very first time, surrounded by friends who are all working together to produce a beautiful sound.”
Among the young women we chatted with, music preferences vary widely. They cited a wide range of classical composers, from Debussy and Schumann to Bach and even Shostakovich.
“I love the French composers – they wrote a lot of good stuff for my good friend, the flute,” Emily says.
“My favorite classical music composition is Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony,” Anna declares. “The VYO played that piece my first year as a member and it completely moved me.
“While Shostakovich dealt with so much oppression from the Soviet Union's government,” she continues, “he wrote an absolutely incredible symphony in protest, all the while fooling the authorities into believing it was a patriotic statement. Mr. Peters, our conductor at the time, helped us to analyze the music and we uncovered aspects in which we could understand Shostakovich's true motive for writing the piece.”
Dvořák and many composers of the Romantic period appeal to Daphnée, who adds: “I dream of playing a Bach solo by myself in a huge concert hall that has gorgeous acoustics. Even if there were only one or two people in the audience, that would make me the happiest person.”
Each of the girls’ musical tastes go far beyond classical symphonies and concerti. Among the 20th- and 21st-century artists who inspire them are Bob Marley, Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson, Celtic Woman, and – amping it up a few notches – Radiohead and Led Zeppelin.
As Sasha notes, “Certain kids in the VYO are extremely passionate about what we play. You see a little of everything in VYO. It's crazy how we can all be so different but when it comes to making music, we sound like one.”
In addition to their participation in the orchestra, Sasha and the others also have interests in additional activities, from singing to showing Jersey cows, to running, design and gardening. Daphnée says she has given up playing field hockey and basketball in school in order to dedicate more time to her true passion, music. Which leads me to wonder, do they find it physically demanding in any way to play their respective instruments, particularly in a concert?
“Yes. You would be surprised at how much effort it takes to hold up a violin for three hours!” Daphnée exclaims. “I also tend to twist my back in a way that hurts after a while. Overall, I just have to make sure that I stretch a lot before and after playing; otherwise my muscles get really tense.”
Sally, her fellow violinist, concurs. “It is incredibly demanding to play any instrument, but the violin is hard in a specific way. We are always turned to the left, and so we have to be careful. It comes with inherent physical challenges.”
Meanwhile, the woodwind instrumentalists have their own challenges, as Emily explains. “Flute players must work with so many muscles in the face, mouth, and lips. Also, posture is very important to the way we control our air. We must always have air support in our diaphragm, which is physically exhausting. In a performance, this is all true. In a performance, a musician’s energy must be higher than his or her own limit,” she explains, adding, “We have to give it more than everything we’ve got.”
To which trumpeter Sasha notes wryly, “You have to be very careful about how much you play before a concert or else you might be left hanging with a tired mouth during the concert.”
In addition to their Winter Concert looming on the January horizon, the VYO will join the other three VYOA ensembles in the organization’s annual “Orchestrapalooza” event in early December. VYO musicians will also participate in Burlington’s First Night celebration in a concert featuring the world premiere of Vermont composer Gwyneth Walker’s “For Peace and Hope” – a work composed by the 62-year old Braintree resident specifically for Vermont’s youth orchestra.
“It’s important for our students to work with living composers, not just the ‘dead white guys’ as we like to say,” Whiddon remarks. “But even in this day and age many of the most successful living composers are men. We have a great opportunity in Gwyneth Walker because she is a woman who has a successful career as a composer and is our neighbor right here in Vermont.
“For anyone who thinks classical music is too difficult or elusive,” she continues, “they just need to spend a few minutes talking to Gwyneth. She’s as real and down-to-earth as they get, and I’m thrilled that our young women will be interacting with her as they prepare her orchestral work for First Night. She’s independent and successful, and has really carved her own path professionally. What a great example for our students!”
The young people who participate in the VYOA have many predecessors from whom they can draw encouragement. Some alums established careers in music; others have pursued different but fruitful paths, according to Whiddon.
“We have hundreds of female alumni and so many of them have gone on to lead successful lives. One example is Mary Rowell, from Craftsbury, who now serves as the concertmaster of the Radio City Music Hall orchestra and tours with her ‘postclassical’ string quartet Ethel,” Whiddon says. “Then there is Adrie Kusserow, who is a professor of cultural anthropology at Saint Michael’s College and has done field work in places like Uganda, India and Nepal – and writes wonderful poetry.”
Among the people for whom Emily has admiration is Berta Frank, the flute teacher she has through the VYOA. In fact, she cites her connection with Frank as her “most rewarding experience.” “She is a coach for the chamber winds program and she is the most incredible person,” Emily declares.
Likewise, Sally acknowledges the importance her music teachers have had on her. “I have a great deal of admiration for my private teacher, Ira Morris, and my previous private teacher, Pam Reit, who reminded me that playing the violin is always supposed to be something you love.”
But it isn’t just the adults who are given credit. Daphnée, in fact, singles out Sally as an inspiration. “One person that I really look up to is Sally Bruce because of her unbelievable talent and confidence,” Daphnée says of her colleague, who is older by a year. “I have gotten to know her well this past year and I hope I will someday be as comfortable and confident in front of an audience as she is.”
Whiddon believes that young women, in particular, benefit from VYOA participation. By gathering weekly with a group of young women who have a similar interest in music and are driven to succeed, Whiddon explains, the girls gain self-confidence. “I look at these girls and they are just so much more confident and assured than I was at their age,” she adds.
“Everything about participating in an orchestra – or a chorus – reinforces the idea that women and men are equal,” Whiddon declares. “How many group activities can we truly say that about? It’s certainly not true with most sports. Can you imagine if we had a girl’s orchestra and a boy’s orchestra? Now that would be bizarre! When a girl walks through the door of the Elley-Long Music Center, she is on an absolutely equal playing field with everyone else. Gender doesn’t play any role in how far you can go in our programs. That’s just one of the many reasons why we need the arts in our lives and especially in our public schools.”
As we conclude our conversation, Anna tells me, “I moved to Vermont in seventh grade from Kentucky. While the moving van unloaded box after box into our new home, my mom and I rushed to an intimidating audition for the VYOA. Today, I feel so lucky that I auditioned that first summer because the VYO has been the best part of my move to Vermont.”
“The music that we perform is one thing,” Emily adds, “but the way we come together and work toward a common goal is another.”
Margaret Michniewicz is editor of Vermont Woman and can be contacted at editor@vermontwoman.com.
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