Worcester Youth Orchestras joined by 'extended family' for 75th Annual celebration

WORCESTER — Just under three weeks before the Worcester Youth Orchestras' 75th Annual Celebration and Alumni Concert on May 21 in Mechanics Hall, 35 alumni had indicated they would be taking part in the performance as instrumentalists.

"That's a really big phenomenal turnout of alumni to play with the orchestra, "said Jonathan Colby, WYO artistic director and music director of the Worcester Youth Symphony Orchestra, during an interview. A couple of alumni who will be playing were WYO students in the late 1960s and mid 1970s.

"These are just the alumni signed up to play with the orchestra," Colby said. "We know there are alumni coming to enjoy the concert."

They are all part of an "extended family" that has helped WYO keep surviving and thriving in recent times.

'A great season so far'

WYO was founded in 1947 by the late legendary Worcester conductor Harry Levenson. The 75th anniversary season has included the Annual Family Holiday Concert and  the return of the Four Orchestras Festival with the WY Symphony & Philharmonic Orchestras and guest orchestras, both in Mechanics Hall; spring concerts with different ensembles; and a 75th Season Finale & Gala held in Mechanics Hall earlier this month.

On June 20 there will be "Bon Voyage" concert in St. John's High School, Shrewsbury, prior to WYO's first tour since 2019. Starting June 22, 80 students and 12 recent alumni who were unable to go on a tour because of the pandemic will be in Austria and Germany for eight days with a full schedule of performances and community outreach.

"It's been going very, very well," Colby said of the season. "It has been a really, really big year. All great things. We've had a great season so far."

'Without their support we wouldn't be here'

Membership of WYO has held steady at about 200 students through the pandemic and beyond, Colby said. "We've been very fortunate. Especially when we look at peer institutions. Many organizations have seen a decline. We've been very fortunate that our membership has held steady."

WYO has enjoyed ongoing support from alumni, student families, and community members, he said.

"Without their support we wouldn't be here."

WYO program offerings include the Worcester Youth Symphony Orchestra, primarily grades 8 to 12 and conducted by Colby; the Worcester Youth Philharmonic, primarily grades 5 and up and conducted by Jack Corbett; a String Orchestra, primarily elementary students and also conducted by Jack Corbett; the Worcester Youth Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Sylvia DiCrescentis; chamber groups including a String Quartet and Woodwind Quartet; a Woodwind Ensemble directed by Lucy Colwell-Snyder; and the Worcester Youth Jazz Program led by the renowned trombonist and band leader Dan Gabel that includes a jazz band and jazz ensembles.

Many of the ensembles and groups rehearse Sundays and Mondays at Trinity Lutheran Church, 73 Lancaster St., near downtown Worcester. WYO's office is at 325 Main St. at Mechanics Hall, reflecting the way Mechanics Hall has helped nurture WYO in recent years.

The move to Trinity Lutheran Church came after WYO took part in a workshop facilitated by the Greater Worcester Community Foundation that looked at goals such as diversity, equity and inclusion.

Now many students can walk to rehearsals downtown or find them on a bus line. By the same token many students will carpool, as WYO also serves a large geographical area including as far as Methuen, Ashby, Townsend and Westminster, Colby said.

Soon, WYO will be looking at a new five-year plan and strategic initiatives. Helping in that will be a WYO alumna who will be joining the WYO board, the first alumnus on the board in a while, Colby said.

Colby, who is originally from England, became WYO artistic director in 2012. Some people may remember him as Jonathan Brennand. After getting married last summer he said he took his husband's last name.

The Worcester Youth Orchestras 75th Annual Celebration and Alumni Concert May 21 will be another reason to celebrate. The concert is at 3 p.m. May 21 with a pre-concert reception at 2:15 p.m.

The concert will include Worcester Youth Symphony, Philharmonic and alumni orchestra musicians, Colby and Corbett conductors; guest violin soloist Vijay Gupta, Music Worcester's artist-in-residence; Keira Mooney, Evelyn White, William Ryan and Amy Li, WYO student soloists; and Selin "Sarah" Kim, alumna piano soloist.

'An extended family'

Colby said WYO doesn't have a formal alumni association. "That is something we know we need to establish, but we maintain good connections with alumni and many come to concerts. We're also fortunate that alumni like to come and help out and volunteer. Some like to coach one-on -one. It happens very organically because they know the value of the program."

At a recent open house for prospective students, the presence of alumni helped show that former students maintain ties with WYO. "It's good for people to see we have an extended family," Colby said.

Kim will be playing the first movement of Greig's Piano Concerto at the May 21 concert.

She said it will her last performance in Massachusetts "for the foreseeable future. It's really nice I am able close my musical journey in Massachusetts with the orchestra I started with."

In the fall, Kim will be attending Indiana University to study for a doctorate in applied linguistics. She has a dual B.A. degree in music and linguistics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where she is also about to receive a M.S. degree in data analytics and computational social science.

Kim, who is from Worcester, graduated from the former Holy Name High School (now St. Paul Diocesan Junior-Senior High School) and was a WYO student from 2015-18 in her sophomore to senior high school years.

She was piano soloist in a WYO concert featuring Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" in 2017, but spent most of her time in the WYO percussion section because piano solo spots are relatively rare in a youth orchestra.

"I've been playing piano my entire life. It's a lonely instrument. It's a very solo instrument," she said. "WYO was a way for me to experience an orchestral journey."

WYO also "provided an environment where I could befriend a lot of people," she said. She met her best friend there. "It was a very important community for me. I had a place to play music on weekends and have some fun."

Kim was fascinated that Colby was an Englishman teaching music in Worcester.

"His accent was something I found very amusing," she joked.

"I'm really grateful that he's given me opportunities, and other students as well. I do appreciate what he and the rest of the staff and board have done for the Worcester community and surrounding area."

WYO alumnus Oved Rico likely won't be able to make the May 21 concert because he'll be playing horn in the orchestra of the national touring musical "Anastasia."

Rico was born and raised in Worcester by his two immigrant parents from El Salvador and graduated from South High Community School in 2018. He joined the Worcester Youth Orchestras program in his junior year of high school. He graduated from Oberlin Conservatory with a B.M. in horn performance and will be attending Yale University in their School of Music for his Masters of Music degree.

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"WYO was an enormous part of my musical upbringing as it was what motivated me to pursue music as a major in college and ultimately as a career," Rico said.

"WYO was that final push I needed to really follow my dream ... Choosing to pursue music as a career was a huge decision for me as I am a first generation college student and without the support of family and also the WYO family, I would not have had the courage to pursue music and be where I am today. WYO allowed me to be surrounded by students who had a strong passion for music as I did. It also connected me with private teachers, challenged me musically, and motivated and allowed me to become an even better musician. I owe everything to the amazing program that is WYO and hope it can keep reaching out to young students and exposing them to the wonders and power of classical music forever," Rico said.

Deb Cole was a member of the Worcester Youth Orchestras during her four years of high school from 1971-75, traveling to rehearsals by carpool from Northborough with several Algonquin Regional High School Band members.  .

"WYO was the first orchestra that I ever played with and I really enjoyed it so I looked for other opportunities and became very busy with musical activities," she said. "I really connected with classical repertoire and the depth of expression that it brought into my life so I pursued music beyond high school and eventually earned a Master of Music in horn from New England Conservatory. My career for over 30 years was largely teaching in the Burncoat High School Music Magnet program where I was, among other things, the orchestra director," she said.

'Keep music a part of their lives'

That brought Cole back to the Worcester Youth Orchestras for the first annual Four Orchestras Festival in 2016 organized by Colby. "This gave my Burncoat orchestra students a chance to play at Mechanics Hall," she said.

Colby did a lot of outreach "and we developed a positive working relationship which continues ... I enjoy coaching sectional rehearsals for the orchestra and the philharmonic (junior orchestra), rehearsal conducting and playing horn as needed (50 years later). I especially enjoy my colleagues at WYO and the students," Cole said.

"The majority of our students don't go on to pursue music as a career. But we hope they go on to keep music as part of their life," Colby said.

"We hope they'll be future concert attendees; when they have children, have their children pursue music; and sit on their schools arts committees where they can have an impact."

Worcester Youth Orchestras 75th Annual Celebration and Alumni Concert

When: 3 p.m. May 21; preconcert reception 2:15 p.m.

Where: Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St., Worcester

How much: $25; children free with registration. www.worcesteryouthorchestras.org

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester Youth Orchestras alumni help keep the music playing