Last night’s performance of the Connecticut Youth Symphony was fantastic. It is exciting when there is a contemporary piece on the program. Comparing these new compositions to traditional classical music is like comparing Monalisa with something by Jackson Pollock. Both are beautiful but it takes a little effort to figure out what’s going on in the newly composed music. “Devil’s box”, a 4 movement piece by the composer Kenji Bunch who is younger than me was really lovely. First movement developed very slowly but the later movements were just rocking. The viola solo was played by one of the faculty at the university.
The second offering was more traditional - 4 movements from the New World symphony by Antonin Dvorak. This orchestra consists of all high school students and they play so well. Many of them have been playing their instruments from an early age of 4 or 5. Many will pursue music in college when they graduate from high school and go off in an year or two. Thanks to my son (for getting selected to join this fine group of youngsters), we get to enjoy this excellent music. This is the last school year for our son to be in this orchestra. We have one more concert to look forward to in May 2023.
