Bahian Youth Orchestra!

Last night, I heard one of the best concerts of my life. It was not played perfectly, it was not in tune, and there were some wrong notes. But the energy in the room was indescribable. The Youth Orchestra of Bahia (pronounced bah-ee-ah) performed for us, all local kids who, a year and a half ago, couldn~t play anything at all.

They performed excerpts from Stravinsky´s Firebird and the New World Symphony. And they played some Venezuelan dances and Brazillian folk songs adapted for orchestra. They were amazing!

And why, exactly?

Because these kids rehearse Monday through Friday from 3-6 pm.And they only started a year and a half ago, without winds. The program is modeled after the Venezuelan music education system, where every child is required to have a musical education of some sort. The principal bassoonist had only started seven months ago and he sounded fantastic. Not only do these kids receive excellent training, and consistent coaching, they all really want to be there. They love the music, and they feel it with their whole bodies. It was like a party- dancing, cheering, and more smiling than I ever remember seeing in an orchestra concert!

Bahia has never had a full orchestra come here before. We are a novelty and something of celebrities. People hug us and kiss us and smile at us.

We have not yet had a full orchestra rehearsal yet, but sectionals are underway. The wind section is astonishing. Our coach is Alex Klein, former principal oboe of the Cleveland Orchestra. I am playing principal flute on the Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances - fiercely hard.

After our sectional today the whole wind section went swimming in the ocean together. Yeah. My kind of day.