You have to see it to believe it. That’s the takeaway from the AYO musicians who are spending a week with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, rehearsing for the upcoming performance of Metropolis: Sounds of Cinema, at Hamer Hall, Melbourne.
Appearing as part of AYO’s Professional Immersion program, AYO musicians Emma Meixner (double bass), Olivia Spyrou (viola), Siobhan Makinson (violin), Lily Song (violin), Khang Mai (violin), Toby Sward (trombone) and Laura Dickie (flute) will work within the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under chief guest conductor Benjamin Northey.
Acting as a springboard for their professional careers, AYO Professional Immersion offers AYO participants the experience of performing with a professional orchestra. Throughout the week-long immersion, the participants also had the chance to meet staff across the MSO departments that make up the musical magic.
“I’m really excited for the chance to sit amongst the MSO musicians and see how they do things in a professional setting.”
Flautist, Laura Dickie
Speaking with Benjamin Northey on the first day of rehearsals, the musicians discussed the differences between playing cinematic music and canonical work, comparing the challenges of each. Indeed, the week was set to challenge the musicians and offer an insight into the diversity of artistic programming major professional orchestras perform across their concert calendar.
Participant, Laura Dickie, said that “It was great to chat with Benjamin Northey. His insights were really valuable, he was talking about excellence, and we can bring to the orchestra and how we can work with the other musicians in a way that serves the musicians around us.”
Invaluable first-hand experience
For violinist, Khang Mai, the AYO Professional Immersion is his first taste of playing with a professional orchestra. Surrounded by tenured musicians, he said the benefits of the program were the ability to gain a real insight into the reality of professional playing.
“It is so great to have the first-hand experience into what our life is going to be like. To be surrounded by such inspiring musicians, people that have been doing it for so long. They know everything about the job, and we can learn from them.”
Violinist, Khang Mai
Rehearsing this one-of-a-kind project, which brings together Foley performers to perform a suite of exciting cinematic works, the AYO musicians observed Northey crafting the detailed decision-making that goes into orchestral performance.
With what is set to be a stellar show, the AYO musicians will appear through the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Hamer Hall playing an exquisite line-up of film music alongside Foley artist, John Simpson, percussionist Eugene Ughetti and the Grigoryan Brothers on the 21st of August.
A week in the life
As well as orchestral experience, the AYO musicians also had the chance to gain insight into the Library and Orchestral Management departments of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In a session with MSO Librarian, Jennifer Collins, the processes surrounding bowings and score distribution across Australia were uncovered.
Furthermore, through discussions with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Orchestral Management team, AYO musicians gained a deeper understanding of the intricacies of the audition process for professional orchestras: from the way an audition is run start to finish, to the specifics of the casual audition rounds.
By the end of the week with MSO, the AYO Professional Immersion participants can approach professional playing and audition opportunities with confidence, knowing that they have performed with one of Australia’s leading orchestras and have made connections with professional musicians they may one day call colleagues.
