Youth orchestra gets stage ready

POSTPONED UNTIL A LATER DATE

ORCHESTRA Victoria’s On the mOVe concert, which brings together some of Bendigo’s most talented young musicians, has been postponed.

Students from 13 schools across the Greater Bendigo region will participate in a three-day workshop, led by 14 Orchestra Victoria musicians, ahead of the concert.

Orchestra Victoria violinist and educational coordinator John Noble works with the Bendigo orchestra’s string section throughout the workshop.

“In those sessions that’s when we pull apart the music, we dissect it, we go through all of the technical components, work on specific exercises and techniques that would actually enable them to play it better and easier and actually enjoy it a lot more,” he said.

“Then we put all together back as a full orchestra and suddenly the sum of all of those instruments and all of that information creates this stunning performance.

“Particularly in Bendigo, we normally end up with quite a big orchestra and essentially every instrument in the symphony orchestra is represented, so you do get quite a full, healthy sounding orchestra.”

Around 50 students have filled out the Bendigo orchestra in the past, with the program forced to move to the Ulumbarra Theatre after outgrowing their previous stage at The Capital.

Mr Noble said Bendigo students will take on a variety of genres for the concert, from classical, baroque and romantic works to modern and pop culture pieces like the Mission Impossible theme.

They’re also working from video tutorials created by Orchestra Victoria in last year’s lockdowns, which Mr Noble said provides an extra chance for preparation ahead of the face-to-face workshop.

“For the first time our Bendigo students have actually had access to all of those videos,” he said. “We’ve actually managed to value-add to their experience by giving them extra lessons before we even come into town.”