Here’s a tall order: find 21 child prodigies on violin, viola, cello, and bass, unite them into an orchestra, and present said orchestra to the public in mid-September. Oh, and you have to begin in August.
This is what Alexis Kende, Director of Cultural Programs at the World Youth Alliance, did with aplomb in forming the World Youth Alliance Orchestra, a group of string performers all under the age of 18, who held their public debut on Sunday, September 19th at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer on the Upper East Side.
To this writer’s untrained ear, the orchestra, whose members range in age from 10 to 17, was technically brilliant throughout the 90-minute concert, which included double concerti by Bach and Vivaldi, an adagio by 18-year-old composer Jay Greenberg, and Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings.” Performing with synergy and verve, the group was especially successful in the Tchaikovsky piece; all the elements of the performance seemed absolutely peerless, quite amazing considering many of the performers have not yet finished middle school.
However, in the more plaintive, largo movements of the double concerti and the Greenberg piece, the performers seemed to show their age, or rather, their naivete; it seemed, both musically and through the look on their faces, that they were merely going through the motions, as if there was no emotion there. The more lively movements, however, were spot-on – with many of the performers seeming to have smiles, or at least some semblance of them.
While the orchestra put on a fine first public performance, there is room for improvement. First, it is very difficult to review the entire orchestra’s performance as much as parts of that whole, due to the fact that only one piece, the Tchaikovsky serenade, featured the entire orchestra. Second, the pieces from this first performances seemed too ‘heavy’ and multi-layered in emotion for the orchestra to perform with both technical skill and an actual feeling. In the future, the pieces should be more fun and light-hearted, while at the same time allowing the entire orchestra to play as one group.
Good Review