Looking to hear passionate young musicians perform classical music on Mother's Day weekend? The Eastern Connecticut Youth Symphony Orchestra (ECYSO) and the Eastern Connecticut Youth String Ensemble (ECYSE) will be performing at 4 p.m., Saturday, May 10 at the Leonard J. Tyl Middle School in Montville.
This is the final concert of the season for the ECSYO, which was first established more than 40 years ago. It is made up of about 30 musically motivated students from middle school to high school students from all over New London County. Some continue with it while they are in college. Adrian Mackiewicz, the artistic director of Connecticut Lyric Opera and the conductor of the Connecticut Virtuoisi Chamber Orchestra is music director and conductor. He also conducts in Poland, his native country.
Selections for the concert will include Ancient Airs and Dances by Respighi, Pomp and Circumstance No. 4 by Elgar, and Siegfried-Idyll by Wagner.
The string ensemble, started about five years ago for students in the fourth to eighth grade to prepare them for the symphony, is conducted by Joan Winters, a principal second violin with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony (ECS) and an orchestra director for Waterford High School and Clark Lane Middle School.
The string ensemble currently is 10 students, fifth, sixth, seventh graders, many from Waterford and Quaker Hill. The two cellos, a viola and seven violins will perform Allegro from Correlli Suite by Arcangelo Correlli, Firework Music by George Frederic Handel, and Chim Chim Cher-ee ..., a Disney Classic arranged by Charles Sayre.
Both groups are sponsored by the Eastern Connecticut Symphony and run through the volunteer efforts of present and past parents of ECSYO and ECYSE members. The students come from all over the region, from Mystic and Stonington, New London, Montville and Waterford, to as far west as Essex and up to Plainfield, according to Patricia Kelley-Borchert, vice president of the ECSYO board.
"Adrian Mackiewicz is extraordinary," said Kelly, whose daughter, Tara Borchert, is first chair flute in the symphony. "Tara says that he is a very critical part of the orchestra because although the private teachers hold their students up to a very high standard as soloists, he holds them up to a high standard as an ensemble. He has a lot of fun with the students, but he has high expectations of them."
Part of that fun is reflected in the snack time break in the middle of rehearsals, Kelly said, where everyone, from conductor to students to parents partake and relax together,
"They are a cohesive group," she said. "Sometimes you hear about youth being under so much pressure to excel in so many areas. They all have high expectations, but they really enjoy it; they share a love of music and they have fun together."
The ECYSO also gets to perform before the professional symphony's final performance of its season each spring at the Garde Arts Center in New London. That concert this year, on Saturday, May 3, was the "fond farewell" performance with retiring music director Xiao-Lu Li.
"Most of our kids are in private lessons and some of their teachers perform in the orchestra, so they are sitting in their teachers' seats, onstage, at the Garde," Kelly said. "That is a really special experience for them."
The youth orchestra holds auditions in early September, Kelly said, and then both groups rehearse every Monday night, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., at the Leonard J. Tyl Middle School in Montville. There is a winter concert, held in January, plus the two May concerts.
In addition to the annual registration fee for the students, which was $140 for this year, fundraisers are held to pay the salaries of the two conductors.
"We're always looking for more student musicians, especially in the brass section," she said. "We want them to be dedicated. This is something different than they would get in a school band."
Winters applauds Olivia Turowski, another Waterford teacher, and other parents of symphony members for setting up the string ensemble for younger students. She encourages students serious about music to take private music lessons as well as try out for the symphony.
"I give credit to all of these kids and their parents who come out on a Monday night, drive this far, for weekly rehearsals," she said. "Kids are torn between so many activities - sports, homework, family obligations. It's tough. You have to have commitment and dedication."
At the same time, she encourages anyone with an interest in music to give it a try.
"It's cool to do music," she said. "There are lots of educational things on TV that involve music." She also credits the newest video game, Guitar Hero, for making music more accessible to anyone with a guitar. "It's not close to what we do in orchestra, but it gives everyone a taste of music."
"Music does not discriminate," she added. "Anybody of any age can play. It's not like we're playing basketball, where you have to sit and watch. Music is for everybody."
Although symphony auditions usually are held in the fall, Kelly encourages interested students to contact her now for May auditions. For more information, contact her at pak-b@sbcglobal.net.
Tickets for the May 10 concert are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students. See www.ectsymphony.com.