The National Youth Orchestra of Canada kicked off their 65th season summer tour in Toronto on Friday night (July 18) with an enthusiastic audience, and some superb playing.
It is understood that the house for a youth orchestra concert will be a mix of very casual to semi-formal, sprinkled with former members from years past, and apt to burst into wild applause at the close of any piece.
The Concert: First Half
The concert began with the presentation of this year’s Michael Measures Prizes, with this year’s second prize gong to Albertan cellist Sabina Sandvoss, and first prize to Orleans Ontario native violinist Justin Saulnier.
The program opened with a new piece by Composer-In-Residence Nicholas Denton Protsack titled Across the Vaulted Night. It’s a piece written in shimmering layers of sound that build up, ebb and flow, with some passages you’d describe as melody-adjacent. It’s full of surprises and unusual sounds, like a spoken phrase by all of the musicians on stage in the midst of the music, or the double bass players slapping the backs of their instruments. There’s a lot of dynamic variation, and a cinematic kind of sensibility that requires control and finesse to pull off.
The orchestra handled the piece with aplomb. I caught up with Denton Protsack at the intermission, and he praised the musicians’ commitment to the piece. “It was a thrill to work with them,” he said.
Next up was Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, op. 63 in G minor, with Justin Saulnier as the soloist. With an assured stage presence and clean technique, it’s easy to see why he’s the Michael Measures 1st prize winner. His delivery was passionate, and handled the changes in mood nicely, with a lovely tone on the 1680 Ruggeri violin from Cremona and Louis Gillet bow he performs on, on loan from Canimex.
Saulnier’s ease on stage came to the fore when the E peg popped on his historic violin in the energetic third movement. Literally without skipping a beat, he exchanged instruments with the first chair violin, and simply carried on, adjusting the shoulder rest on the fly. (Kudos as well to the two first row violinists, who managed to sort it out and continue playing as well.)
He got a well deserved standing ovation for his polished performance; Toronto audiences are sure to hear from the talented young violinist more and more as time goes on.
Second Half: Mahler 5
Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 is a monumental work, with an emotional range from the high drama of its opening to the lighter mood of the third movement, and sombre note to the fourth. It required all hands on deck to produce the requisite combination of power and finesse, and shone a spotlight on a series of soloists.
Of particular note was the trumpet soloist Andrew Mendis, as well as French horn soloist Noah Larocque, and the brass section in general. In the third movement, the French horn plays a theme that is echoed by a string of soloists from the oboe to clarinet, trumpet, and others. There were no weak links among the performances.
There was some lovely playing by the string section, particularly in the lyrical sections of the second and fourth movements, the latter alongside the harp. The percussionists also worked as a solid, impressive unit.
Conductor and artistic director Naomi Woo is finishing her tenure with NYO Canada with this tour, and her control and direction of the large ensemble was notable, right to the symphony’s glorious finish.
Final Thoughts
The evening ended with cheers and another standing ovation. Woo had the orchestra perform as a choir for two short encore pieces. Hearing their young voices sing together left the audience with an inspiring finish to the concert.
It’s inspiring to see the dedication and high level skills displayed by the young musicians of NYO Canada. If history is any indication, they’ll be filling about a third of the seats in professional orchestras in Canada in the years to come.
You can experience their combination of passion, playing, and youthful energy on tour to the West Coast, with dates in Vancouver (July 26), Nanaimo (July 30), and Victoria (August 1 to 3).
Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.