National Youth Orchestra of Wales - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The National Youth Orchestra of Wales , founded in 1945, has the distinction of being the first national youth orchestra in the world and is Europe’s longest-standing national youth orchestra.

Based in the capital, Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

, the orchestra has an impressive history which has merited attention both within Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

and beyond.

Organisation

The orchestra (abbreviation NYOW) numbers around 115 young players aged between 13 – 21 years who are auditioned and drawn from all over Wales, and who represent some of Wales' most talented young musicians.

The NYOW performs in some of the most prestigious concert halls in Europe including St David's Hall

St David's Hall

St David's Hall is a performing arts and conference venue in the heart of Cardiff city centre, the capital of Wales...

(Cardiff), the Bridgewater Hall

Bridgewater Hall

The Bridgewater Hall is an international concert venue in Manchester city centre, England. It cost around £42 million to build and currently hosts over 250 performances a year....

(Manchester), the National Concert Hall

National Concert Hall

The National Concert Hall is a concert hall located on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin, Ireland, close to St. Stephen's Green, and is the principal national venue for classical music concerts in Ireland....

(Dublin), Waterfront Hall

Waterfront Hall

The Waterfront Hall is a multi-purpose facility, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. Practice partner Peter McGukin was the project architect....

(Belfast), Town Hall (Birmingham), Beethovensaal (Stuttgart), the Salle Erasme (Strasbourg) the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt (Berlin), and most recently La Mortella on the island of Ischia

Ischia

Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

Successive generations of players have benefited from the guidance and tuition of internationally-recognised professional

Professional

A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...

musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

s, many of them former members of the orchestra, and many well-known Welsh composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

s have been commissioned to write new works for the orchestra, such as Grace Williams

Grace Williams

-Biography:Williams was born in Barry, near Cardiff, Wales.She was educated at Barry County School, and won a scholarship to Cardiff University . She then went to the Royal College of Music, London, where she was taught by Ralph Vaughan Williams...

, David Wynne, Daniel Jones

Daniel Jones (composer)

Daniel Jenkyn Jones OBE was a composer of classical music, who worked in Britain. He used both serial and tonal techniques...

, Arwel Hughes

Arwel Hughes

Arwel Hughes OBE , was a Welsh orchestral conductor and composer.Hughes was born in Rhosllannerchrugog near Wrexham and was educated at Ruabon Grammar School and at the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Ralph Vaughan Williams and C. H. Kitson...

, former member Karl Jenkins

Karl Jenkins

-Other works:*Adiemus: Live — live versions of Adiemus music*Palladio *Eloise *Imagined Oceans *The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace...

, and founder member of the orchestra Alun Hoddinott

Alun Hoddinott

Alun Hoddinott CBE , was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition.-Life and works:...

. (Two dozen pairs of clogs were needed for the Orchestra's premiere

Premiere

A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...

of Karl Jenkins' Scenes From Wales in 2000.)

Conductors

Unlike many youth orchestras which perform under the baton

Baton (conducting)

A baton is a stick that is used by conductors primarily to exaggerate and enhance the manual and bodily movements associated with directing an ensemble of musicians. They are generally made of a light wood, fiberglass or carbon fiber which is tapered to a grip shaped like a pear, drop, cylinder...

of an annual guest conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

the NYOW has traditionally appointed a resident Principal Conductor and Musical Director. These have included Clarence Raybould

Clarence Raybould

Clarence Raybould was born in Birmingham on 28 June 1886, to Robert J Raybould , a printer compositor, and Elen A Raybould , and died in Bideford on 27 March 1972. He was an English conductor, pianist and composer who conducted works ranging from musical comedy and operetta, Gilbert and Sullivan...

(1945–1966), Arthur Davison (1967–1990), Elgar Howarth

Elgar Howarth

Elgar Howarth is an English conductor and composer.Howarth was educated in the 1950s at Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music , where his fellow students included the composers Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr, Peter Maxwell Davies, and the...

(1991–1995), Christopher Adey (1996–2002), and Owain Arwel Hughes OBE

Owain Arwel Hughes

Owain Arwel Hughes CBE is a Welsh orchestral conductor. Among his numerous titles are Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London's Philharmonia Orchestra, Aalborg Symphony in Denmark and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and Principal Guest Conductor of the Cape...

(2003-2010). 2011's concert series was conducted by Takuo Yuasa

Takuo Yuasa

is a Japanese conductor. Yuasa has directed major orchestras in Japan and the UK, and recording on more than 50 CDs as an exclusive artist for Naxos Records.-Biography:Takuo Yuasa was born in Osaka, Japan, where he studied piano, cello, flute, and clarinet...

Courses

A residential course is normally held in the summer, followed by a short tour comprising four or five concerts.

Since 2001 the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both a broadcasting orchestra and national orchestra.The BBC NOW has its...

have worked together on projects culminating in joint concerts or recordings, giving young players the opportunity to play alongside some of the best orchestral players in Britain.

Auditions

Candidates are accepted for audition on the approval of their county Head of Music Service and are expected to support music activity at school/college and county level. The minimum standard for all instruments

Musical instrument

A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...

(except harp

Harp

The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

) is Grade VIII. Harpists may play at Grade VI.
Auditions take place throughout the autumn around Wales and at selected centres in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

for those studying away from home.

History

1945 Orchestra founded by Irwyn Walters

1946 First concert at the Rolls Hall, Monmouth

1948 First appearance at the National Eisteddfod where the first recordings were made for future broadcasting

1953 First broadcast to the Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

to mark the Coronation

Coronation

A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...

of Queen Elizabeth

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

1955 The NYOW appeared at the Edinburgh Festival

Edinburgh Festival

The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...

1956 First record launched by Qualiton Records

1957 First concert tour abroad

Repertoire

Vaughan Williams' Symphony

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...

No.2 featured in an all British-programme in 2008, alongside the Celtic Dances of Welsh composer, William Mathias

William Mathias

William Mathias CBE was a Welsh composer.-Brief biography:Mathias was born in Whitland, Carmarthenshire. A child prodigy, he started playing the piano at the age of three and composing at the age of five. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Lennox Berkeley, where he was elected a fellow...

. A former member of the National Youth Theatre of Wales, Hollywood actor Matthew Rhys

Matthew Rhys

Matthew Rhys Evans , known professionally as Matthew Rhys, is a Welsh actor, best known as Kevin Walker on the U.S. ABC family drama Brothers & Sisters, and as Dylan Thomas in The Edge of Love.-Early life:...

narrated the first-ever Welsh translation of Britten's

Benjamin Britten

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...

Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34, is a musical composition by Benjamin Britten in 1946 with a subtitle "Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell"...

in a NYOW concert at St David's Hall

St David's Hall

St David's Hall is a performing arts and conference venue in the heart of Cardiff city centre, the capital of Wales...

, on 7 August as part of the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff

Cardiff

.

The 2009 programme included Arwel Hughes

Arwel Hughes

Prelude for Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Swan Lake

Swan Lake

Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...

Ballet Suite and Mahler Symphony No. 1, with the orchestra performing at Aberystwyth Arts Centre

Aberystwyth Arts Centre

Aberystwyth Arts Centre is one of Wales' busiest and largest arts centres, based on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales...

; Prichard-Jones Hall, Bangor

Bangor, Gwynedd

Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...

; Adrian Boult Hall

Adrian Boult Hall

The Adrian Boult Hall is the main concert hall of the Birmingham Conservatoire in central Birmingham, England. It is named after the conductor Adrian Boult....

, Birmingham; The Sage, Gateshead; Three Choirs Festival

Three Choirs Festival

The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held each August alternately at the cathedrals of the Three Counties and originally featuring their three choirs, which remain central to the week-long programme...

, Hereford Cathedral and St David's Hall

St David's Hall

St David's Hall is a performing arts and conference venue in the heart of Cardiff city centre, the capital of Wales...

, Cardiff

The 2010 programme included Brian Hughes's Troad, Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy

Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...

's La mer, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2. The orchestra performed at St David's Cathedral

St David's Cathedral

St David's Cathedral is situated in St David's in the county of Pembrokeshire, on the most westerly point of Wales.-Early history:The monastic community was founded by Saint David, Abbot of Menevia, who died in AD589...

; Aberystwyth Arts Centre

Aberystwyth Arts Centre

Aberystwyth Arts Centre is one of Wales' busiest and largest arts centres, based on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales...

; St David's Hall

St David's Hall

St David's Hall is a performing arts and conference venue in the heart of Cardiff city centre, the capital of Wales...

, Cardiff

Cardiff

; St Asaph's Cathedral; and RNCM Concert Hall, Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

.

2011's repertoire included Hilary Tann

Hilary Tann

Hilary Tann is a Welsh composer now based in the United States.Tann holds a degree in music composition from the University of Wales, Cardiff. Her overture, With the Heather and Small Birds, commissioned by the 1994 Cardiff Festival, is her tribute to the land of her birth...

's From the Feather to the Mountain, Liszt

Liszt

Liszt is a Hungarian surname. Notable persons with that surname include:* Franz Liszt , Hungarian composer and pianist* Adam Liszt , father of Franz Liszt* Anna Liszt , mother of Franz Liszt...

's Tasso and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5. Concerts were held at William Aston Hall, Glyndwr University, Wrexham

Wrexham

Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

; The Sage Gateshead; RNCM Concert Hall, Manchester

Manchester

; and St David's Hall

St David's Hall

St David's Hall is a performing arts and conference venue in the heart of Cardiff city centre, the capital of Wales...

, Cardiff

Cardiff

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Organisation

Conductors

Courses

Auditions

History

Repertoire

See also

External links