Review: The World Youth Alliance Orchestra
September 19, 2010 marked the debut of the World Youth Alliance (WYA) Orchestra, an orchestra young in its members of between 10 to 17 year olds, and in its actual age as a group. Formed in August of this year, the orchestra had but a month to prepare for its public debut in the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer on 66th St and Lexington Ave.
The young orchestra, founded and coached by Alexis Kende, WYA’s Director of Cultural Programs, performed a repertoire of Bach, Vivaldi, Greenberg, and Tchaikovsky. Displaying the focus and intensity of seasoned performers, the young musicians filled up the church with the piercing notes of the violins and violas, and with the rumbling roll of cellos and a bass. Though performing without a conductor, the orchestra was unified and precise, at least to my untrained ear.
The repertoire was equal parts soaring and grounding, with the Bach and Vivaldi pieces adding liveliness and youth to the performance, while the Greenberg piece provided some gravity via the absence of the high-reaching violins. The Greenberg piece was well done not only because of the beautiful composition, but also because of the performance itself. Though it was a heavier piece than the previous two to my ear, the piece was successfully played to showcase both the weight of the composition without becoming too overwhelming. The best part for me was the final movement of the Tchaikovsky piece. It was the only piece that showed the entire orchestra, and it was here that the orchestra’s talent shone through. The rapid build-up to the end was exhilarating both to the ear and the eye; as the music sped up and soared, so did the bows and fingers moving in unison across the strings, in fine sawing movements that produced so much sound.
The debut was truly a success, and one can only believe that it is only the first of many successes to come as the musicians continue to hone their craft. The performance was inspiring, bringing the WYA’s vision of unity through the arts that much closer to becoming a reality.
