National Youth Music Organisations Mash Up

Posted: 15 July 2010

Youth Music brings together the nation's top flight music ensembles once again for Music for Youth's annual National Festival in Birmingham

Following on from the success of the 2009 NYMO Festival, the National Youth Music Organisations (NYMOs) made a follow up visit to sunny Birmingham last week to mentor aspiring young musicians and give some insight into what it might be like to be a member of these highly regarded musical institutions.

The NYMOs are supported by Youth Music and are made up of pioneering bodies for giftted young musicians such as The National Youth Orchestra, National Youth Choir and National Youth Brass Bands and we were thrilled again to be able to partner up with Music for Youth and involve the NYMOs in The National Festival.

The Festival itself showcases the UK’s thriving youth music scene. Over 12,000 young people participated throughout the week in live music performances and workshops at venues including Symphony Hall, Town Hall, O2 Academy, Birmingham Conservatoire, CBSO Centre, and for the first time ever Birmingham City Football Club which was host to SCORE! on Monday 5 July.

SCORE! brought together 5,000 young musicians and singers with varying levels of ability, from individuals at the beginning of their musical journey right through to musicians from the National Youth Brass Band, National Children’s Orchestra and the National Youth Choirs.

Inspired by the Beautiful Game, SCORE! was an exciting and extremely impressive performance of the new musical commission from composer Tim Steiner with words from performance poet and BBC Radio 3 presenter Ian McMillan. Check out our amateur video footage below - if the camera work's shaky it's only because we were overexcited (not to mention over-emotional):

As the week progressed, the NYMOs contined to throw open their doors to young musicians eager for an opportunity to participate in a workshop with some of the nations’ most talented young musicians. The National Youth Orchestra led inspiring performance workshops on Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique on Wednesday 7th July, while the National Youth Choir offered innovative master classes on choral works and improvisation on Tuesday 6 July

.

Other highlights throughout the week included an introduction to Indian composition techniques from the South Asian Music Youth Orchestra and Youth Music Theatre UK presenting performance skills to young choirs from across the nation.

The National Youth Brass Band commissioned Mark Wilkinson, Principle cornet and Glyn Williams, Principle Euphonium of the Fodens Band and members of the National Youth Brass Band to host dynamic workshops for young brass players whilst Pro Corda examined new repertoire for smaller ensembles and the National Youth Jazz Collective led workshops exploring the adventurous and imaginative use of jazz.

Our Chief Executive, Christina Coker OBE said:

“We are delighted that the National Youth Music Organisations were a fundamental element of the National Festival for the second consecutive year. The concept of smaller, participatory workshops gave aspiring young musicians a first-hand opportunity to feel what it’s really like to be part of a NYMO and to realise what it is possible to achieve with talent, hard work and the support of dedicated music leaders and peers.  The NYMO network is one of the most dynamic and exciting bodies of support for talented young musicians in the world and an integral part of Youth Music’s strategic push to nurture young talent.”

 For more information on the NYMOs check out our NYMO pages

Make a comment

To make a comment you need to be logged in to your account. If you don't have an account please register here.