Youth and experience share stage

When breadth of experience and exuberance of youth meet, the result can be beautiful music.

The Modesto Symphony Orchestra and Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra will perform side-by-side as part of the professional orchestra’s concerts Nov. 7 and 8 at the Gallo Center for the Arts.

The youth and adult groups will perform Jean Sibelius’ “Finlandia” together to open the program. MSYO music director Ryan Murray said the annual side-by-side performance helps the young musicians grow immeasurably.

“There are many things professional orchestral musicians do automatically. All the fine points of intonation and phrasing, when to look at the conductor – you can’t teach that in a classroom setting. You have to experience it,” Murray said. “Such a short amount of time causes huge growth for them. There’s nothing like it.”

The remainder of the Modesto Symphony’s program will feature music director David Lockington conducting works of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor. The latter will feature guest pianist Katherine Chi.

The Canadian-born, Boston-based musician has worked with Lockington before – in Alberta, Michigan and Colorado – but this will be her Modesto Symphony debut. She called the Tchaikovsky piece a “war horse of the piano concerto repertoire.”

“It’s one of the classics. It’s very, very grand with noble themes with great virtuosity but always with incredible lyricism and romanticism imbued in everything,” she said. “I’ve always enjoyed playing this piece. I am looking forward to discovering new things about the piece with David, but also further enjoying the rapport with a great musician and seeing what we can find together in this piece.”

Chi started playing piano at age 4 and has been performing professionally for 14 years. She was happy to be part of a performance that includes the joint piece with the youth musicians. She remembers working with seasoned professionals while she was studying music, and happily pays it forward when she can.

“I think it’s great as a community to involve the youth. I think the opportunity for youth to work up and perform pieces and see what it’s like to have a life in music is great,” she said. “The knowledge and wisdom and presence they can learn from the experience is wonderful.”

The joint Modesto Symphony performance will be followed by MSYO’s separate season-opening show Nov. 8, conducted by Murray and Anne Martin. Approximately 90 young musicians in the symphony (for high school students) and concert (for middle school students) orchestras will perform in the opener. The youth orchestras accept auditions throughout the year.

“It’s always fun to work with young musicians and these are the cream of the crop of young musicians from the Modesto and Turlock areas,” Murray said. “They have so much passion for the music. They’re very excited to learn. With professional orchestra you do maybe two or three rehearsals before you perform. But when you work with young musicians, you are with them week by week and it’s very gratifying in that way.”

This will be Murray’s first concert back with the MSYO since spending five weeks in Austria for the prestigious Ansbacher Fellowship for Young Conductors. The fellowship allows him to study at the Salzburg Festival in residency with the Vienna Philharmonic. The fellowship selects one promising American conductor under 30 to attend the event each year.

“It was fascinating to see music-making at that high a level and what’s really possible,” he said. “It was also a confidence booster knowing at that level conductors are working on some of the same sorts of issues as I am.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 2:00 AM with the headline "Youth and experience share stage."