Music for Everyone Blog

East Midlands Youth String Orchestra feature in National Festival

The East Midlands Youth String Orchestra presented a class act at Birmingham's Symphony Hall on Wednesday 4th July when they performed at the National Festival of Music for Youth, a six-day showcase for inspirational young musicians from across the UK.

Members of the 30-strong EMYSO come from all over Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire, including Wollaton, Southwell and East Leake. They won through to the Birmingham festival from a regional competition at Loughborough in May. MfE violin tutor Isobel Bounford said "We were very excited to be invited to perform at Symphony Hall! We were one of just six groups from as far afield as Penzance, Gwent and London to be chosen, so we felt privileged to be part of such a wonderful National Festival”.
 
Asked what it was like to play at one of the world’s top concert venues, Andrew Sherwin, one of EMYSO's youngest members said "It was a fantastic place. I was quite nervous when we arrived but it was brilliant and I had a great time!"

The judges praised the orchestra's playing as stylish, committed and lyrical. EMYSO conductor Richard Howarth said "I was really impressed with the way the group performed and was proud to be conducting them at Symphony Hall. It’s a huge space but they did not seem fazed by that, and played with great enthusiasm and confidence."

Nottingham-based principal viola, Jamie van der Sanden, remarked "Playing in Symphony Hall was exhilarating, especially since I had a solo passage! The acoustic was brilliant and I could really hear my viola projecting its sound". Thanks to Music for Everyone’s special Instrument Fund, Jamie has had the use of a fine viola whilst in the orchestra. He said "EMYSO has shown me just how exciting it is to join with other musicians and work together towards a top performance. The teaching has been fantastic and helped me to develop real style in my playing”.

A small number of participants in the National Festival will be invited to perform at the Schools' Prom at the Royal Albert Hall in London later in the year. Jamie said "If we were asked to take part it would be the icing on the cake… the Birmingham day was really inspirational and will be something we'll never forget".

If your son or daughter is a string player grade 5 standard or above and would be interested in joining the group you can find out more information on the Music for Everyone websitewww.music-for-everyone.org email admin@music-for-everyone.org or telephone 0115 9596484.