A little-discussed but major feature of the classical music scene is the youth orchestra movement. These orchestras are flourishing in and around most metropolitan areas that have any significant professional musical activity. They have taken over the role long filled by school orchestras and all-city high school honor orchestras back in the days when school music programs of consequence were the norm, not the exception.

In youth orchestras, school-age musicians who are blessed both with talent and supportive parents, get their chance. Once a week, from every conceivable background and from many communities, they assemble to play symphonic music with their peers, to get ensemble and repertory experience. The youth orchestra operations are for the most part several steps up from the school orchestras. These independent and board-supervised programs go the extra distance of arranging formal concerts and tours, publicizing, fund-raising and most important, ensuring that the conductor on the podium is one who can teach, lead and inspire at the level the young players deserve.

None of this sounds like an exciting feature story though and so it has only come out here and there. It's usually a local story about a particular youth orchestra about to perform a concert. The movement has evolved so naturally, the outside world takes it for granted. The fact is that the youth orchestra is the platform that prepares orchestral instrumentalists for conservatory and music schools and eventually, major careers. If you were to take a survey of American symphony orchestras today, you would find that for most of the players, the Americans at least, a youth orchestra is the base for their experience. We have several excellent youth orchestras in the Bay Area and at their concerts you can hear the emerging talent and often be thrilled.

This Saturday, an international youth orchestra comes to visit, the Asian Youth Orchestra performing at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall at 8:00 p.m. It should be something to hear. Based in Hong Kong where it was founded in 1987 and operates as a non-profit educational entity, the Asian Youth Orchestra, is comprised of 100 musicians, ages 15 to 25. They are chosen in auditions each year from between 1500 to 2000 representing 11 Asian countries. Those selected are brought together for six weeks each summer, initially for a three week Rehearsal Camp, studying under distinguished conservatory teachers and symphony musicians as well as rehearsing, and then to perform on tour for three weeks as young professionals with major international solo artists. Sergiu Comissiona is their current music director and conductor.

Since 1990, the Asian Youth Orchestra has played 136 concerts to nearly half a million people in 97 cities, the venues including New York's Avery Fischer Hall, the United Nations, Hollywood Bowl, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. This year, the Asian Youth Orchestra's guest soloist is the pianist Jon Nakamatsu, the 1997 Van Cliburn gold medalist, who will perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 with them on Saturday. Other North American cities visited on this, their 10th annual tour include Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and San Diego.

The peopling of our youth orchestras, conservatories and professional symphonies by Asian and Asian American musicians has been so long a fact of life that perhaps this phenomenon is now taken for granted. Nevertheless, this shift in the source of both ensemble and solo artists remains one of the extraordinary historic developments to have taken place in classical music in the past quarter century. Historians have yet to tell us about its meaning, what this signifies in the joining of peoples and cultures, but I suspect that the effect will be understood as momentous.

We welcome commentary, suggestions and reactions to the articles. Simply click on "Contact Us" and send your reponse by e-mail.