Australian Youth Orchestra
AYO National Music Camp 2013: Blog 1
AYO Blog
AYO National Music Camp 2013: Blog 1
By Rachel Landgren
Day 1: Tuning Up
After two years of planning, AYO National Music Camp 2013 is off to a roaring start. The dedication and hard work of AYO staff ensured that today’s arrival of a contingent of 151 strings, 18 woodwinds, 27 brass, two harpists, 11 percussionists, two pianists, two harpsichordists, four composers, 29 tutors, two conductors and one music director went surprisingly smoothly. Not to mention the ten Arts Administration, two Sound Production and six Words about Music participants who arrived yesterday to get the ball rolling.
In one of its biggest years yet, the 65th National Music Camp will conduct rehearsals, classes, workshops and concerts at the University of Adelaide’s historic Elder Hall and surroundings.
The excitement of old friends meeting and new friendships forming was not affected by the extreme heat sweeping through Adelaide. Resourceful as always, musicians were finding fun and inventive ways of coping with the heat, with much foot-bathing in the fountain and a certain entrepreneurial viola player already considering the personal benefits of a fan-trading scheme ($12 fans are available at Kmart).
You could sense the energy in Elder Hall this evening as Music Director Elizabeth ‘Libby’ Wallfisch introduced the team of tutors and staff assisting this year’s program. Libby described her own student days at National Music Camp as ‘formative’ and emphasised the wonderful opportunity to form lifelong friendships and connections. As the participants readied themselves for the first rehearsals, the buzz in the Hall was a sure sign of the excitement to come.
And with that the music making began…