November 2012 – Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra Winter Session

 

Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra Winter Session

Sunday 25th November 2012, St. James

For the second outing for this new orchestra, the students performed Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suite no.2 and Mozart’s Violin Concerto in G with local young soloist Elliot Samphier.  The concert opened with a solo performance of works by Prokofiev and Faure given by Jennah Smart, a local flautist who is in her final year of undergraduate study at Trinity College of Music.  This was a performance marked by beauty of sound and moments of breathtaking speed and virtuosity.

The orchestra then took to the stage led by conductor Stephen Threlfall, Director of Music at Chetham’s School of Music.  The orchestra opened with Elliot Samphier on violin and the first movement of Mozart’s Violin Concerto in G, which was a performance of huge confidence, wit and drama given by this outstanding young musician.

The orchestra was then in the spotlight with Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suite no.2, and particular highlights were the woodwind solos in the 2nd and 3rd mvts, with Megan John on flute giving a beautiful rendition of the Minuet accompanied sensitively by Krystian Lamb on piano.  The 4th movement, Farandole (March of the Kings), build to a huge climax and the resultant ovation from the audience demanded an encore of the rousing finale of this movement.

The orchestra is run through the partnership of the Jersey Academy of Music with the Jersey Music Service, and sponsored by the Strasser Foundation.  For this session the instrumental tuition was provided by Young-Pyo Lee (upper strings), Emmanuelle Dumas (lower strings), Sarah Le Feuvre (woodwind), Graham Cox (brass), and Russell Abraham (percussion).  The next session will take place in Summer 2013.