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.

Growing up in a proud Irish-American family, I am an unapologetic fan of all things Irish: the food, the literature, the craic. And, especially the music: a high-spirited blend of bodhráns, flutes and fiddles, usually played around a table filled with pints of Guinness. And, while nothing compares to hearing live music in Ireland, there's no shortage of quality Irish music right here in NYC, with more than a dozen regular seisúns across the five boroughs (shout out to Hartley's in Clinton Hill.)

But 25 years ago, Belfast native Barry Douglas, winner of the 1986 Tchaikovsky piano competition, decided it was time to think more broadly about Irish music and where it fits within the western musical tradition. With the ink barely dry from the Good Friday Agreement, Douglas founded Camerata Ireland in 1999 with an ambitious agenda to perform both classical and traditional Irish music with some two dozen musicians drawn from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (similar to Daniel Barenboim's West-East Divan Orchestra, which began performing in the same year.)

Douglas brought Camerata Ireland to Carnegie's Zankel Hall last night with a program that showcased both aspects of their musical mission. The first half of the concert was devoted to the classical repertoire, with Douglas conducting from the piano. Eimear McGeown, a two-time All Ireland winner on the Irish flute from County Armagh, opened with a concerto for flute and strings (1814) by little-known Italian composer Saverio Mercadante, a contemporary of Donizetti and Bellini. Though it was a light, Mozartian piffle, McGeown played brilliantly, effortlessly tackling the ornamental solos. The same, unfortunately, couldn't be said for the strings, which to my ears lacked shape and tone. Perhaps it was their distinct Irish style of bowing (or is it fiddling?), or maybe I still had the magic of the Vienna Philharmonic ringing in my ears, but there was a distinct lack of blend here which I just couldn't get over. 

"I could live to be 500, and I don’t think I’d run out of things to do in music." - David Harrington

Unlike rock bands such as the Rolling Stones or The Who, a 50th anniversary isn't unheard of in the world of string quartets. The Emerson Quartet just played its final shows after 47 years; the Juilliard Quartet is still going strong well into its ninth decade (though without any of its original members.)

So, on its surface, Friday night's concert at Carnegie Hall celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Kronos Quartet wasn't really remarkable. Until you stop to think about all that they've accomplished in that half-century: some fifty studio and soundtrack recordings, more than 1,000 commissions of new works, countless performances across six continents (including 43 at Carnegie Hall alone), collaborations with everyone from Steve Reich to Sigur Rós.

"They have changed the way we see string quartets, and altered the course of music history, forever." WNYC host John Schaefer declared during his onstage introduction. 

Founded in Seattle in 1973 by first violinist and artistic director David Harrington (whom I interviewed backstage at the Big Ears Festival back in 2015), Kronos added John Sherba (violin) and Hank Dutt (viola) after moving to San Francisco in 1977. All three remain, along with cellist Paul Wiancko, who joined the quartet earlier this year, replacing Sunny Wang. Paul has somehow already made it into an updated version of Sam Green's Kronos documentary "A Thousand Thoughts," an excerpt of which was screened. The film sought to explain Harrington's ceaseless crate digging, his never-ending quest to find the next novel sound, regardless of genre or background.  

"We haven't yet found the bulletproof piece of music that can wrap itself around us," he said in a voiceover. "But I think it's possible, and I spend every minute of my waking life trying to find it. That's our job."