The World Youth Alliance Orchestra
Light seeped in through the stained glass and the Church backdrop provided stunning scenery as the young performers prepared to take the stage. On September 19, the World Youth Alliance Orchestra performed in their public debut at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer. Brought together by Alexis Kende because they are some of the finest rising musicians in the New York metropolitan area, they performed with liveliness and pleased the audience.
I have been to performances by my high school orchestra but the precision of these musicians was far beyond anything students at this age should be able to do. The performance, capped off after a class discussion on whether music was a language, spoke volumes to me because of the clarity of their body language. As some of the musicians swayed to the music and bounced their heads, the audience could sense the focus of the musicians on difficult parts. Most impressive was the fact that they were able to perform without a conductor. When I have seen movies and past performances, I’ve always envisioned an orchestra with a conductor; watching the musicians perform independently, however, was refreshing.
The first piece, a double concerto by Bach, was crisp and the performers integrated various instruments at one time, creating a chaotic yet masterful performance. The double concerto by Vivaldi, played next, built up the music and was passionate as well. The music began slowly, then picked up and different strings could be deciphered; however, it was too similar to the Bach tune. They were both fast and exciting and Vivaldi’s piece lost some of its force because it was played right after Bach. I could sense the drop off in energy level of the performers from the first to the second piece.
Jay Greenberg’s “Adagio” was played next and provided the necessary balance for the performance. With three high-intensity pieces, “Adagio” was a slower performance that provided transition. After speaking with Greenberg and hearing an excerpt “Adagio,” I am curious to see how his completed piece materialized. A question I would ask him is how his pieces are played differently when performed by a student orchestra rather than a professional one. The last piece, “Serenade for Strings” by Tchaikovsky, was my favorite performance because it gave the entire orchestra the opportunity to display their musical abilities and showed the unity of the World Youth Alliance. The music rose and fell and the “allegro con spirito” gave the concert a dramatic ending.
The World Youth Alliance did well considering it was their first public performance and the orchestra is made up of some musicians who are not even teenagers yet. Despite this, in order for the Alliance to elevate itself to a recognizable name, it must overcome some of the difficulties it faced because of its lack of experience. One glaring issue was the musical selection. As Professor Weinroth pointed out, a director usually alternates between fast and slow pieces to provide balance to the performance. I think the orchestra would be better served having a slower selection placed between Bach and Vivaldi. This would transition the tunes better and the musicians would be able maximize the energy needed to perform these pieces at their best if they have a slower piece in between. Another suggestion I would make is the presence of the musicians. While some musicians were feverishly involved throughout, others seemed to be going through the motions. When the entire orchestra is on one page in its expression of music and its body language, the World Youth Alliance will flourish.
The selections Kende picked allowed different musicians to be highlighted; the first piece placed the violinists as the soloists, the second placed the cellos and the third placed a viola soloist. This permitted the entire orchestra to grasp the spotlight at one moment in time with everyone coming together at the end. This worked very well for an orchestra trying to find its best combinations. I thought the performance was great for a public debut and the talents of the musicians are applause-worthy. The World Youth Alliance Orchestra has a great mission and has the potential to take young musicians to the next level.
