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What should one do after a 13-hour long flight from the US? Go and sneak into one of the AYO’s rehearsals! Obviously.

Well, that’s exactly what I did last Thursday, February 13^th. A four-hour wait between my plane landing and my train leaving gave me ample time to:

(1) Figure out exactly where the AYO was rehearsing (which involved some serious Instagram story research) and;

(2) Loiter outside the rehearsal venue until I got permission to go inside.

Seeing some of my friends for the first time in over a year was a cure for jetlag in itself! Not wanting to leave too soon after the euphoria of catching up with everyone, I decided that I’d have time to watch until the end of rehearsal.

With Maestro Kerem Hasan’s sharp clap of the hands, announcing ‘32!!’ as the start mark for the rehearsal, I am engulfed in a surge of sound – the sound of Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life).

Now what I love about youth orchestras is experiencing the energy that incessantly buzzes around the atmosphere. Classical music might have a stereotype of ‘up-tight seriousness’, but the scene in this room portrayed a rather different image. Every time I glanced up, I saw smirks, giggles, and even laughs as these young musicians poured their very beings into the music. The excitement was almost too much, with Maestro Hasan kindly reminding the orchestra to keep the volume on the softer side.

As the rehearsal progressed, Maestro Hasan continued his excavation of the music, enlivening the notes with his playful instructions:

“Wait until the last two semi-quavers… I just think it’s gotta be totally improvised… and then it comes ALIVE in the next bar!”

“Like Nutella – do you have Nutella here? Yes, Nutella expressivo.”

And so the orchestra played like Nutella… yum!

The music heard in the rest of the rehearsal explored an array of dimensions; sometimes I felt a breeze whistling through my hair as I stood in a meadow, and at other times, I was held captive in an evil labyrinth. Even though I’ve been playing violin for 18 years, I am consistently surprised when witnessing how music can transport an audience to another reality.

With a train to catch, I pulled myself away from my friends, knowing that I’ll be seeing them again in July for the AYO’s international tour to The Netherlands, Austria and Germany. How lucky are we to play great music with great people? Incredibly, I say.