To my fellow members of the 2009 NYOC (Benoit, Pamela, Daniel, Wei, Xin, Danielle, Ellie, Dean, Carol, Ariel, Teresa, Howard, Meiying, Molly, Charna, Ruza, Eslin, Emilie-Anne, Christina, Jeremy, Angela, Brennan, Sarah, Christine, Luke, Heather, Eric, Ryan, Valérie, Ye Jin, Joe, Liz, Katie, Arthur, Sunmock, Thomas, Marcus, Vincent, Eli, Hannah, Liz, Ramsay, Evan, Chadd, Kathleen, Blackman, Dylan, Alex, Erin, Charles, Caroline, Solway, Sarah, Chris, Kaili, Jeff, James, Gwen, Andréanne, Danielle, Lindsay, Eric, Josh, Kate, Colin, Roxanne, Peter, Marc, Eric, Matt, Rebecca, Krista, Mikhailo, Marie-Sonja, Beth, Marina, Mindy, Julie, Tizz, Curtis, Alexis, Duncan, Stephanie, Tim, Bob, Steve, Madeleine, Chris, Tristan, Nelson, Chad, Michelle, Catherine, Da Boyz, Toczko, Merrissa and Alex):

I miss you!! Now that I have settled into my new house in Oklahoma City I have had some time to reflect on this past summer. This was certainly the best of the three years I have been involved with the orchestra. The repertoire was amazing and the talent of all of you continued to blow me away. And Alain? His love and passion for music was easy to see through the kid in him, wasn't it? His interaction with us bonded the orchestra into a family in a way that I have never seen. We all wanted to do our best for him and for the person sitting beside us. What an incredible setting to be a part of.

All of this being said, none of this could have been as amazing and as fun as it was without all of you. Like I said, I was able to feel the passion for music each and every time that I talked to you or that we played together. It was your attention to detail that made us sound so good. Music is an art form through which we change people's lives and you all have changed me in ways that we will never forget. Whether it was over a meal in Delaware Hall, a sectional together, a conversation on a bus ride, walking around downtown (*insert large Canadian city*) or playing together on one of our country's biggest stages, I will not let go of the experiences I've had with each of you nor the friends I've made.

You see, I have come to really think lately about why it is that I play music. I believe I found the answer....

Time for a story.....

Once upon a time there was man by the name of Saul. The Spirit of God left Saul and in its place a black mood sent by God settled on him. He was terrified.

Saul's advisors said, "This awful tormenting depression from God is making your life miserable. Master, let us help. Let us look for someone who can play the harp. When the black mood from God moves in, he'll play his music and you'll feel better."

Saul told his servants, "Go ahead. Find me someone who can play well and bring him to me."

One of the young men spoke up, "I know someone. I've seen him myself: the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, an excellent musician. He's also courageous, of age, well-spoken, and good-looking. And God is with him."

So Saul sent messengers to Jesse requesting, "Send your son David to me, the one who tends the sheep."

Jesse took a donkey, loaded it with a couple of loaves of bread, a flask of wine, and a young goat, and sent his son David with it to Saul. David came to Saul and stood before him. Saul liked him immediately and made him his right-hand man.

Saul sent word back to Jesse: "Thank you. David will stay here. He's just the one I was looking for. I'm very impressed by him."

After that, whenever the bad depression from God tormented Saul, David got out his harp and played. That would calm Saul down, and he would feel better as the moodiness lifted. -1 Samuel 16:14-23

You see friends...we play music because it can change people. It can comfort them, heal them and bring them peace. So if you ever find yourself struggling and frustrated with the fact that you care about music more than your fellow students. If you ever begin to be frustrated with the repetitiveness of practicing the same excerpt over and over again. If you ever think you aren't accomplishing anything by what you do....it matters. What we do....it matters. We are so lucky to be gifted and we need to change this world with our song. We are also so lucky to be able to choose to study music. So many people in this world long for the freedom and ability that we have. Take good care of it.....and play because you LOVE to play.

Another brief story...

I found out yesterday that I am not in the orchestra at school this semester. Instead, I am principal of the Wind Philharmonic. This was a big blow to me. I struggled much of the day trying to cope with how I am going to deal with this fall. But I have come to realize that by not playing in that ensemble I am able to hold on to my experience with the NYOC. I am not going to be frustrated by playing in an orchestral ensemble that is of a lesser caliber. You see, my family tells me that I light up in the summer time and that playing in an orchestra is truly where I love to be. It was this summer that I finally came to the realization that I want to win a job no matter what it takes. I thank you all for this. You've already impacted me with what your music this past summer. I know that I may have never figured this out had we all not played together and been brought together the way we did. I want this so badly and you have all taught me what it means to care about something so much that I am going to work as hard as I can to earn it.

I can't wait to hear the disc. I can't wait to see you all again. I can't wait to see if I'll be back. I miss it so much. I miss all of YOU so much! Thank you. For everything that you've done.....every single little thing......thank you. It means so much.

With love and thanks,

Brennan

À mon grand regret, la session 2009 de l’orchestre est déjà terminée…

J’ai vraiment apprécié mon été et ce, tant pour la musique que pour les gens. Tous les musiciens et membres du personnel étaient supers. Comme on dit, « on était une belle gang! ». J’irais même jusqu’à dire que j’ai préféré cet été au précédent…peut-être parce que c’était ma deuxième année ou peut-être tout simplement parce que tout s’est déroulé à merveille! Qui sait?

Un programme très enrichissant!

L’orchestre national des jeunes du Canada est à mon avis un programme dont tous les jeunes musiciens canadiens, durant leur formation, devraient faire partie puisque le fait d’y prendre part est une expérience très enrichissante! Nous y apprenons d’ailleurs à jouer en section avec des musiciens qui ne partagent pas tous la même esthétique de jeu. Nous avons aussi la chance d’expérimenter les différentes positions à l’orchestre, ainsi que les différentes responsabilités qui y sont rattachées. Nous abordons des œuvres que nous n’auront peut-être jamais la chance de rejouer puisqu’un orchestre formé d’autant de musiciens ne se trouve pas facilement. Nous apprenons à vivre en groupe et nous pouvons aussi perfectionner notre seconde langue (Ce qui est surtout le cas pour nous, francophones, puisque la plupart des activités se déroulent en anglais), car francophones et anglophones se côtoient tout au long de la session. Une session de six semaines peut vous paraître courte, mais c‘est juste assez long pour nous permettre de créer des liens, des liens avec des amis et probablement de futurs collègues, qui proviennent de partout au Canada!

Un retour …

La fin d’un programme d’été implique bien entendu le retour à la « vie normale ». En fait, tout changement de milieu implique une adaptation. À mon arrivée à l’orchestre, j’ai dû m’habituer à cohabiter avec plus de cent autres personnes et maintenant, c’est l’inverse puisque je dois me réhabituer à vivre normalement. Ce retour peut être positif, car nous retrouvons notre lit, notre maison ou notre appartement et nos proches. Cependant, cela peut s’avérer plus difficile lorsque vient le temps de quitter tous ces gens, ces amitiés que nous avons crées ou lorsque reviennent les responsabilités. Je parle ici du fait de recommencer à faire le ménage, à faire l’épicerie, certains retournent au travail et bien sûr, nous devons tous recommencer à pratiquer…oui, oui! Entre vous et moi, pendant la tournée, nous jouons énormément, mais nous ne pratiquons pas beaucoup!

Nous ne le réalisons probablement pas tous, mais à mon avis, ces étés à l’ONJC auront fait partie des plus beaux moments que nous aurons vécus.

Merci de nous avoir suivis tout au long de cette aventure musicale!

Andréanne

It would be impossible to summarize my entire NYOC experience in a blog entry. The experience I gained this summer is priceless. I'll admit, it was nice to arrive home and to sleep in my own bed, but it feels a bit weird settling back into my regular routing at home.

The thing I miss most about the NYOC is the people. I will never forget the friends I made this summer and our countless hours together in and out of rehearsal. I will never forget our amazing faculty and staff. It would have been impossible to get anything done without their help. They kept us organized and on track. Last but not least, I will never forget Mr. Alain Trudel, who spent six weeks away from his family to be our conductor.

It was great to have such a sympathetic conductor. He was a friend to us all. He understands what it's like to be an orchestral musician, and treated us with care. He did his best not to overwork us, and he was very supportive of those of us who were injured. He made rehearsals and recording sessions fun instead of tedious, with his great sense of humour. Our 9-hour recording session was over before we knew it, thanks to his efficiency.

Speaking of the recording session; it was a great experience. I will listen to recordings differently now that I understand how easy it is to fix flaws here and there. We worked with an amazing sound producer, who seemed to know the score of Mahler 6 as well as our conductor. And then there was the web broadcast. I'll admit, the first time I saw the huge crane, I was a bit intimidated. Many times, I felt like my bow would hit the hovering camera, but as our conductor promised, it never did. These experiences will be very useful for any studio work we do in the future.

The concert tour was a great way to end our learning experience. It was very well organized. We had the opportunity to play in union halls such as Roy Thompson in Toronto and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. It felt amazing to perform in the same halls that the professionals use. We didn't have much free time in between concerts, but when we did, my favourite thing to do was go swimming. We had the fortune of staying in very nice hotels during the tour, and a dip in the hot tub was just what I needed to relax.

By the end of the tour I was exhausted, but the lack of sleep only really hit me when I got home. For a couple days I was good for nothing. I miss the NYOC, but I will have to move on. The good news is that there are exciting plans for next year. I can say without hesitation that this was one of the best summers of my life and it was an experience definitely worth repeating. I would love to be a part of it again next year and I will certainly be auditioning!

Well, there sure was a nice two week break in blog updates which just happened to coincide with our tour eh? I can explain. I was having so much fun that I really didn’t feel like pulling out my laptop to write a blog. In fact, at least half of my possessions didn’t get unpacked for two weeks. I thought I would be smart this year and bring two smaller bags that I could load onto my back, instead of a suitcase which would bind me to taking the elevator. I was laughing when we got to Ottawa and I took eight flights of stairs and beat my roommates up there by a good 15 minutes, but who was laughing when I would have to dig through a bag to find something while they just opened a suitcase and voilà, everything is visible?

I could go on and on with how much I loved the repertoire this year, but I will only say a few quick things: Mahler really grew on me and I fell in love with that symphony; finally performing the Rite of Spring was a dream come true, and; playing the Mambo from West Side Story gave me an uncontrollable grin.

Thinking back on the tour, there were so many highlights! I had so much fun playing in Stratford. Isabel Bayrakdarian made playing Rossini arias fun. I typically hate vocalists, but there are maybe 3 in Canada that I love hearing more than any other musicians, and she is one of them. The audience in Stratford was so appreciative that they applauded between Haydn movements and even part-way through the Bernstein! I know it’s not “proper” concert etiquette but there’s nothing wrong with being appreciative. I just felt bad for the audience sitting next to the viola section. Because of the space, the drum kit was put on our side of the orchestra, so right before the Bernstein, people not 6 feet away from us watched in horror while we put in our ear plugs.

The recording process in Montreal was painless. Usually the word “recording” is synonymous with “boring” and “pulling teeth”, but it was over before we knew it. I heard from an inside source that the first edit of The Rite of Spring sounds great, even though that piece wasn’t supposed to be on our CD; you see, we accidentally recorded it. They pulled enough good parts out of our webcast concert that we only needed to do a session that night to finish it. Speaking of the webcast, that was so cool! It’s a nice compromise when the orchestra can’t make it to every town and hamlet that the members are from. The only part that I didn’t like about the webcast was the very end. We finished a great concert, stood up while the conductor was bowing, and there was this weird silence where there should be an audience applauding. AWKWARD MOMENT!

All in all, the worst part of the tour was the end of it. We had quite possibly our best concert in Toronto at the Roy Thompson Hall. The audience wouldn’t stop clapping, even after two encores and a million bows. By the time I finally got back to our green room, there were tears pouring down so many faces. Standing in a room full of people wearing all black and given the amount of crying, you’d think it was a funeral. It is, in a way, as if someone died. Of course the 2009 National Youth Orchestra will live on in memories, the webcast and the CD/DVD, but as a live orchestra, it’s over. Anyway, it’s been a fantastic summer and I will miss this orchestra tremendously, but I don’t feel sad; I feel excited for my future and my future will hopefully include many of you!

It may be a little early to admit this, but with just one day’s separation from our time together in the past six weeks, everyday things seem suddenly, somehow a little different. I know it’s better that we learn to be apart for now, but I just couldn’t help but tell you how I’ve been feeling.

I wanted to thank you first for the people you brought into my life. The staff and students made me feel over and over that I was part of something special and unique. It’s like we were the isotopes that produce nuclear reactions under ideal conditions, except that instead of isotopes we were people and instead of electricity and radiation we produced great music. You know, music and people both have the power to change the world and, when we focussed our efforts together, we were unstoppable.

Believe it or not, you were my first fling with a summer training program. I still can’t believe I put you off for so long. Your goal of bridging the gap between my schoolwork in music and my incipient professional career has been so helpful that it feels a bit one-sided considering that all I had to do for you was audition. I’ll never forget my first symphony performance with you, my first set of professional programme notes, even my first ever online blog. Ever since the day that you tumbled into my life, NYOC, you’ve shown me nothing but love. Now that it’s over, I can’t be sorry that we’re through but only glad that it happened.

The new experiences that you brought into my life didn’t just occur to me as events. They left their mark in terms of clarity and reaffirmation surrounding my love for music and what I believe in the bottom of my heart that I can do with it. What I really loved about you was how you always dared me to believe in myself when we were together. I looked forward to every day we spent hoping that I was able to return your generosity. Oh, NYOC, the intimate details of what we did are all over the papers and the internet, but please try to think of that as a small price to pay for the great times we shared.

When I looked up at the stars tonight, I couldn’t help but wonder if you were looking out and thinking exactly the same thing. I want you to know that my memories of you will always be a beacon for me of a time and place when things were just right.

It’s been a good run, NYOC. Thanks for everything.

Sincerely yours,

Alex