April in Paris
The Ambassadorial Youth Chamber Orchestra was founded in 2022 with a view to enhancing cultural understanding and harmony between Australia and Asia, predominantly China. The intention has been to bring together some of the most advanced young orchestral players in Victoria to perform classical music for the sheer joy of making music together, and to project, through the universal language of music, a spirit of optimism, understanding and co-operation for the future. The orchestra presented its first concert at the Australia Club in December 2022. The concert was warmly appreciated by members of the consular community, politicians and community leaders.
Concertino for Flute & Orchestra Op. 107 - Cecile Chaminade
Soloist: Minwu Hu
December in Helsinki
In this concert, we feature an exciting program that shows off some brilliant soloists. Katherine Ma performs the demanding and iconic violin concerto by Sibelius, and Cecilia Xu displays her exceptional musicianship with Gliere’s beautiful concerto for horn. In addition, you will be delighted by Paulina Huang’s sensitive and insightful violin playing as she performs the solo violin part of Julian Yu’s “Six Chinese Folk Songs.” Of course, the orchestra needed to perform something special, and Geronimo Gimenezy Bellido’s “Las Bodas de Luis Alonso” provided a dazzling slice of Spanish brilliance! This was certainly a night to remember.
Crimson Maple Leaves
In this concert, we share the chamber musicians from the inaugural Melbourne Youth Chamber Music Course. We hope to make this course a regular event every Autumn – studying and performing chamber music is so important for musical development, and is also extremely fulfilling. With the AYCO, we feature three superb young soloists from within the orchestra. Yoshie Koh performs the 1st movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1, and Jun Gardiner and Gabriel Tian Liu perform the first two movements of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No 1. All three soloists have demonstrated astonishing artistry for their years, and it is a great joy to work with such remarkable young artists. We will, as we have done for every concert, feature a work from China, and we hope you will enjoy the iconic Liu Yang River.
Crimson Maple Leaves Concert
Dvorak in Spring
The symphony is Number 8, but numbering confusion has only recently been clarified. Dvorák composed nine symphonies, but only five were published during his lifetime. Consequently, great confusion has persisted with respect to their numbering and chronology. The English firm Novello published this symphony in 1892 as No.4, adding fuel to the numbering mix-up, and No 9 (The ‘New World’). Is often called No 5. Indeed, the Scotch College orchestral set for the ‘New World’ has the heading ‘Symphony No. 9’ for the violin parts, but ‘Symphony No. 5’ for the cellos!
Part of the 8th symphony’s disarming appeal is the folklike character of the melodies in all four movements. Another asset is Dvořák’s magnificent, imaginative writing for woodwinds. So fertile is his melodic gift that virtually every instrument has its chance for solos. That stated, flute emerges as first among equals, and Ian Li has tackled the difficult solos admirably.
Dvorak in Spring Concert