| Australian Youth Orchestra |
 When John Bishop and Ruth Alexander convened the first National Music Camp in 1948 they created an institution that has fired the imaginations of over 14,000 young Australian musicians to date. In 1957, the Australian Youth Orchestra gave its first concert at the Sydney Town Hall. Sir Charles Moses, then Managing Director of the ABC, wrote, The public launching of the Australian Youth Orchestra may well be regarded by the future historians of Australian music as one of the most significant events in an era rich in musical achievements… In 1970 the Australian Youth Orchestra embarked on its first international tour to Japan; it has since visited the Americas, South East Asia, the South Pacific and Europe, most recently playing the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and at festivals in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and the UK, returning to Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms. The orchestra celebrates its 50th Anniversary with a tour to Europe in 2007. AYO continues to grow, offering opportunities to some 300 talented musicians handpicked in rigorous auditions each year. Its programs complement, extend and enhance the musical training of musicians aged 12 to 25, with chamber ensembles (Camerata Australia and the interactive touring outreach program Young Australian Concert Artists), specialist string, wind, brass and percussion programs (Young Symphonists), contemporary music activities (New Music Now) and scholarships and fellowships for instrumentalists, composers, writers and arts administrators. Recent new programs offered include Chamber Music Camp and the Style Workshop, examining the performance practice of music from periods such as the Baroque, the Classical, or Contemporary. Many of the best musicians in Australia have been a part of Australian Youth Orchestra, either as alumni or as tutors, often as both. Australian Youth Orchestra has been transformed over the years since the first National Music Camp but it remains, in the words of John Bishop, a place where young people… with their combined purpose and intent, coupled with the visionary leadership of their tutors… will together discover a concept of living and thinking that will remain with them as an everlasting inspiration. Forthcoming performances Saturday 16 February 2008 at 5.15pm at the Sydney Myer Music Bowl Conductor: Rossen Milanov Repertoire: RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Capriccio espagnol Op.34 RACHMANINOV Symphonic Dances BERNSTEIN Candide: Overture Tuesday 19 February 2008 at 8pm at the Melbourne Town Hall Conductor: Rossen Milanov Horn: Lin Jiang Repertoire: RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Capriccio espagnol, Op.34 MOZART Concerto for Horn No.4 in E flat Major K295 MAHLER Symphony No.1 in D Major Melba Recordings performances: MR301105: Shostakovich - Symphony No. 10 |