San Francisco Classical Voice

YOUTH MUSIC REVIEW A Credit to Their Mentors and Themselves

March 17 & March 24, 2002

Edwin Outwater

Carlos Avila

By Joan Murray

Where have all the youth orchestras gone? Just a few years ago, they were ubiquitous in the Bay Area. Every school system had its performing groups, and the state orchestra festivals were marvels to behold. At the dawn of the 21st century, however, the climate has changed. For the past 30 years, music has been on the endangered list in most school systems, and the result is apparent in the dearth of active instrumental groups.

All the more reason to treasure the gems we have left. Case in point: two recent concerts of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (Sunday, March 17, Davies Hall) and the California Youth Symphony (Sunday, March 24, San Mateo Performing Arts Center). In both concerts, the young musicians acquitted themselves nobly, doing credit to the music and justifying their able conductors' leadership.

Edwin Outwater's program with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra was an excellent demonstration of the group's versatility in coping with radically differing styles, its ensemble showing discernible improvement since the December concert. The seldom-heard Schumann Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Opus 52, is like a shortened Schumann symphony and calls for sustained focus on ensemble, because of the rhythmic crispness the music demands and the balance problems posed by the dense orchestration. The string section, especially, played with refinement and precision, no doubt the product of dedicated instruction by their SF Symphony coaches as well as many arduous hours of individual practice.

A sensitive, poised soloist

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor is an early work, more rambling and rhapsodic than the well-known Nos. 2 and 3, and therefore twenty-year-old Carlos Avila's achievement as the soloist was all the more impressive. His playing exhibited sensitivity and poise, with an unusual maturity. The overall effect was just the right combination of romanticism and brilliance.

Toru Takemitsu's A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden and Debussy's Iberia are both major works that challenge professionally-experienced players, yet Outwater's charges sailed through them with confidence. The Takemitsu is in a kind of modern impressionist style, requiring imaginative yet delicate playing. By contrast, Iberia gave the percussion section a chance to strut their stuff, and brought out impressive solo work in the clarinets, as well as some solid brass moments, with everything kept in meticulous balance. Concertmaster Owen Dalby's solo led the switch from the elegant and suave second movement to the splashy ending of the finale.

The California Youth Symphony, under Leo Eylar's direction, is now celebrating the fiftieth season since its founding by the late Aaron Sten. Eylar began with a premiere of his own Tonescapes, commissioned by the CYS Board. The orchestra's performance of this work ably realized what the composer, in a short talk at the concert's beginning, stated was his goal: to write music that is accessible to its audience.

Solo and ensemble skills

Then came Shostakovich's repetitive and motivically obsessive Cello Concerto No. 1, brought off effectively nonetheless by the soloist, Naoya Kanai. His fluid technique and unshakeable poise matched the robust orchestral string sound. The outstanding wind section, led by Co-Principal Horn Debbie Crane combined with fine solos by Concertmaster Beatrix Chan for a striking musical experience.

It is gratifying to see the program recognition given the orchestra's supporting staff of private teachers and section coaches. Groups this proficient don't just "happen." They are the product of a lot of work over the years by many people behind the scenes.

Such an inspiring display of young talent deserves notice and encouragement by the public at large. These players often come from schools where there is no longer a music program. They have had to make sacrifices to be able to reach the level necessary to play in a youth orchestra. In addition, the travel and time commitment is daunting, as is the CYS's tuition for those not on scholarship. (The SFSYO, underwritten by grants, does not require tuition.)

To those who would accuse these orchestras of "elitism" (favorite buzz-word of the politically-correct generation) I ask, why not restore music to its rightful place in the public school curriculum so that everyone has a chance to participate? It has been my experience as a teacher in San Francisco's inner city schools that young people of every ethnic, social and economic background flock to the classics every time, when introduced by effective instruction. Of course, this is why they're called classics: because people in many successive generations find a personal message in this music that speaks directly to their hearts.

(Joan Murray is a former conductor and orchestra instructor in the San Francisco Public Schools. She currently serves as director of the Golden Gate Philharmonic, a San Francisco All-City Youth Orchestra.)