NYO-USA at World Orchestra Week, Carnegie Hall, 8/5/24

For most of its history, Carnegie Hall was dark for the summer: a concession to the days before air conditioning when most New Yorkers headed to the beach or mountains. But ten years ago, Carnegie opened its (air-conditioned) doors in July for the NYC debut of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (aka NYO-USA), which was founded the previous year. The brainchild of Carnegie's Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson, the orchestra had a lofty goal: take the best teenage musicians (16-19) from around the U.S., put them up for two weeks (all expenses paid) where they train with principal players from the country's top orchestras, then have them perform in Carnegie's Stern Auditorium before going out on tour. Dressed in matching red pants and Chuck Taylors, NYO-USA - and it's younger brothers NYO2 and NYO Jazz - have now become an annual NYC tradition. 

This summer, Clive apparently decided it was time to do something a bit more ambitious, as Carnegie hosted it's first-ever World Orchestra Week: seven consecutive nights of concerts by youth orchestras from around the world, alongside NYO-USA and NYO2. In a radio interview on WQXR, Gillinson said that World Orchestra Week - or WOW - was a direct response to a world of increasing chaos and conflict, be it Russia's invasion of Ukraine or the ongoing war in Gaza. The concept was straightforward: by bringing these kids together and letting them share music stands, meals and Instagram accounts, their differences fade away, establishing friendships and paving the way for a better, more peaceful future. 

For the youth orchestras based outside the U.S., it was also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come to New York and perform at one of the most storied concert halls in the world. While those of us in the cheap seats sometimes take Carnegie Hall for granted, playing on this renowned stage can make an indelible impression on a young musician, raising their sights from playing in their after-school orchestra to something much greater. In certain cases, it can even lead to an escape from a life of poverty, war or repression.

by Peter Matthews

"It's not the lawn, it's not the great old pines. It's not the blue skies, or sudden thunderstorms, or the mountains. All that is wonderful...But, it's the spirit of Sergei Alexandrovich Koussevitzky that makes that place magic." - Leonard Bernstein, 1985 

Part of the pleasure of returning to the Berkshires each summer is the comfort in knowing that as much as the world might seem a constant shitstream of chaos, this place will always stay the same. (Well, mostly the same.) The rolling hills, the lakes, the charming villages and cultural amenities: this place gets in your blood.

But for me, there's always been one real reason to make the three hour drive up the Taconic over the past three decades: Tanglewood, the annual music festival which has filled this sylvan paradise with some of the world's best music since 1937. Much more than just a classical music festival, Tanglewood has always thrived on its dual identity as both the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and one of the world's leading training grounds for young musicians. (It's now also a place of learning for non-musicians of all ages.)

Unfortunately, Tanglewood has seen more than its share of turmoil over the past few summers, with the retirement of longtime BSO CEO Mark Volpe and TMC Director Ellen Highstein followed by the short-lived tenures of Gail Samuel (CEO) and Asadour Santourian (TMC), not to mention the cancellation of the entire 2020 and much of 2021 seasons due to COVID. But, with the hires this season of Chad Smith  (CEO) from the LA Phil and Ed Gazouleas as TMC Director, Tanglewood seems to be back on its right footing, with ambitious plans to expand its offerings over the next few seasons, including renovating the old Theatre-Concert Hall for staged opera productions and opening the Linde Center for Music and Learning for year-round programming. 

But, for all the recent disruption, most things at Tanglewood remain the same. The Shed looks just as it did when it was built in 1938, the round tables out back of Highwood are placed exactly where they've always been, the rehearsal shacks still echo with the sound of young musicians running through solos. Also still in place is Tony Fogg, the BSO's VP of Artistic Planning and de facto Tanglewood director for the past three decades, responsible for keeping all of the ships moving in the same direction.

And of course, there is Music Director Andris Nelsons, now in his tenth season with the orchestra. For all his globetrotting - Nelsons is also the Kapellmeister of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, Germany and a regular guest conductor in Vienna and Berlin - he has been a solid presence at Tanglewood each summer, conducting no less than four weeks of concerts with both the BSO and TMC while personally teaching the conducting fellows. (Nelsons was officially named Tanglewood's Head of Conducting in January at the same time he was awarded an "evergreen" contract, which basically means he can stay in Boston as long as he likes, perhaps even longer than Seiji.)

It's not unheard of for concertmasters of major orchestras to take a brief leave from their positions to perform as soloists, or even fill in for other orchestras in need (see Cleveland and, until recently, Boston.) Which is understandable, given the prodigious talent these violinists exhibit on a nightly basis, often at the expense of a solo career. But, to have four prominent concertmasters performing together on the same stage? Unheard of. 

But, that's exactly what took place on May 22, when the concertmasters of the Met Orchestra (David Chan), NY Philharmonic (Frank Huang), Montreal Symphony Orchestra (Andrew Wan) and the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra (Daniel Cho) joined forces with the chamber orchestra Sejong Soloists for their 30th anniversary concert at Zankel Hall. It made slightly more sense to have such a starry collection of violinists when I learned that all four performed with the Sejong Soloists earlier in their careers, and studied at Juilliard with Sejong founder Hyo Kang.

But, what does one do with four concertmasters? The repertoire of music featuring four violin soloists is - well, nonexistent. So, naturally, Sejong commissioned a new work for the occasion: Texu Kim's with/out for four violins, strings and percussion. (In recent years, Sejong has commissioned more than a dozen new works, including Tod Machover's Overstory Overture (2023) and August Read Thomas' saxophone concerto Haemosu's Celestial Chariot Ride (2024). with/out, which Kim says is about the alienation pervasive in contemporary society, featured evocative names for each of its three movements: "lonesome and fluorescent" was soft and plaintive; "subdued and imploding" felt anxious and Bartòk-creepy, while "festive!!" was bright and cheerful, with the four soloists digging in. (Kim must not be a fan of capital letters.)