National Symphony Youth Orchestra 'sparkles' on first overseas tour

Taipei, Aug. 3 (CNA) The National Symphony Youth Orchestra, a youth group established to nurture young musical talent in Taiwan, gave its first ever overseas performance, described by a veteran Taiwanese musician as "sparkling with passion," in Singapore Friday.

The 2024 summer edition of the youth orchestra's 90 members performed the group's first overseas concert at the Conservatory Concert Hall at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore Friday, presenting the same program they played in Taiwan for the "Dreams Ablaze" tour in late July.

The young musicians performed with conductor Jun Märkl, music director of the Taipei-based National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), which launched the youth group as an educational program in the summer of 2023, and guest violinist Richard Lin (林品任).

NSO acting concertmaster Teng Hao-tun (鄧皓敦), who has worked with the youth orchestra since late July and was in Singapore for the tour, told CNA that the young musicians' energetic performance sparkled with their passion for music.

Through the youth orchestra, people can see how young musicians grow and evolve, because gaining experiences working in an orchestra is important for cultivating classical musicians, Teng said,

Meanwhile, Märkl told CNA in an interview on Thursday that the youth orchestra was set up for "young people to meet, exchange ideas, experiences."

"They can perform on a high level, but at the same time, learn how to work together with students from other countries, to develop a network, and just make friends," the conductor said. "Making friends, creating connections, and I hope, long-lasting connections, long-lasting friendships through life, so that something will continue after we have played our concerts."

Most of the members in the summer or winter edition of the youth orchestra have been Taiwanese music students under the age of 18, picked through auditions, according to the NSO, who are joined by young musicians from Japan, Singapore, Thailand and the United States.

The concert on Friday opened with "Concertino Cusqueño" by American composer Gabriela Lena Frank, with Lin joining for the second piece "Violin Concerto, Op. 14" by American musician Samuel Barber.

At the end of the first half of the concert, the youth orchestra and Lin performed two encore pieces -- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings in C major, Op.48: II, Waltz" and "Applemania" by Russian composer Aleksey Igudesman, according to the NSO's social media post about the tour.

The orchestra then played "Three-Cornered Hat Suite No. 2" by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, and "Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34" by Russian Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov" for the second half of the concert.

On Thursday, NSO musicians who have worked with the young musicians since late July, including Teng, and select members of the youth group, gave a chamber music concert at the same venue in Singapore.

The youth orchestra will next perform in Thailand on Sunday, at Nakhon Pathom MACM Hall in Salaya, in the western outskirts of Bangkok to conclude the tour, which began with the first two of the three concerts scheduled from July 25-27 in Taiwan cancelled after Typhoon Gaemi made landfall around midnight on July 24.

The young musicians gave their first performance at the National Concert Hall in Taipei on July 27, then a rescheduled concert the next day at the Miaobei Art Center in Miaoli County -- the main venue that has hosted the youth orchestra since its 2023 launch -- before embarking on the year-old group's first overseas tour.