This Friday, the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra will perform the second concert of its season. The concert is in partnership with Opera Theatre Saint Louis’ Monsanto Artists-in-Training program. Rayna Campbell, a 17-year-old soprano and Belleville East High School student, will perform Mozart’s “Zeffiretti lusinghieri” from Idomeneo and excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen with the youth orchestra.
“They’re very inspirational,” says Jessica Ingraham, the St. Louis Symphony‘s director of education and youth orchestra. “Watching them achieve such a high level of musicianship is incredible.”
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Ingraham, a clarinet player and a former band director in the St. Charles School District, has been the youth’s orchestra director since 2012.
“The musicians in the youth orchestra have so much passion and expression in their playing,” Ingraham says. “You might think I’m just going to see a bunch of kids play music, but these kids play at such a superior level.”
Members of the St. Louis Symphony act as mentors and coaches to the musicians in the youth orchestra, who range in age from 12 to 22. On Saturday, David Halen, the concertmaster for the symphony, shared tips and techniques with the string section of the youth symphony. “There is such a lovely dynamic between the musicians in the St. Louis Symphony and the musicians in the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra,” Ingraham says.
Each season, the symphonies come together for a special rehearsal where the members play together and have lunch afterwards. “The youth members love it. Many share that it’s one of their favorite events of the season,” Ingraham says.
“It’s really inspiring to play side-by-side with world class musicians,” says Will Schatz, a viola player in the youth orchestra.
Schatz joined the youth orchestra three years ago but has been playing the viola since fifth grade. Schatz began playing the violin because it was required by his school, but when given a choice, he switched to the viola because “the sound is so much fuller and richer.”
It’s hard for Schatz to identify his favorite thing about being in the youth orchestra because, as he says, “there are so many.” He loves being exposed to challenging music and the opportunities he’s had to work with members of the SLSO. “It’s great to learn their cool tricks and their secrets of playing,” he says.
This weekend’s concert provides a unique opportunity for the musicians to perform with an opera singer. “It’s great that our youth orchestra musicians get to experience this part of the orchestra repertoire that they usually don’t get to explore,” Ingraham says.
Schatz’s favorite is Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Pathétique. “It was the last piece he wrote before he died two days later, so it’s a special piece.”
“With any St. Louis Symphony event, it’s easy to be intimidated by classical music if you’re unfamiliar, but it’s for everyone,” Schatz says.
The St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra will perform at Powell Hall (718 N. Grand) on Friday, March 3 at 8 p.m. Tickets are free and can be reserved here.
