“We who’ve been immersed for decades in music often forget or take for granted its greatest gift: how music simultaneously stretches and connects us,” writes Lou Fancher in Saturday’s (7/29) San Francisco Classical Voice. “Nothing made this more apparent last week than my 60-minute interview with up-and-coming 22-year-old violinist Shiho Takashima of Japan. The young musician auditioned along with more than 1,000 candidates from 11 cities across east and Southeast Asia to win a coveted position as one of 32 violinists selected for the 2017 Asian Youth Orchestra.” The Asian Youth Orchestra is an auditioned ensemble of pre-professional musicians from throughout Asia. Musicians come together for six weeks each summer, first for a three-week rehearsal camp in Hong Kong, then for a three-week international concert tour with guest conductors and solo artists. “The summertime orchestra’s performances follow intense study with distinguished faculty and artists from … the Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, La Scala, Parma, Boston Conservatory, Baltimore Symphony, Vienna Volksoper and others…. The students … average age 21 or 22 … arrive from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. [Artistic Director Richard] Pontzious says this year’s tour required a staggering 228 visas.” The goal, says Pontzius, is “to create an excellent orchestra focused on playing more than just notes.”
Posted August 2, 2017
