A blog from two of the newest members of NYOI

Every year the NYOI audition panel travel across Ireland to hear hundreds of young musicians hoping for a place in the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. Even if you have been in the orchestra before, you must re-audition. This keeps standards high and gives new musicians a chance to gain a place every year.

It's always really exciting to welcome new members to the NYOI family which has been expanding for over 40 years. This year we have been delighted to welcome 44 new members and today we hear from two violinists - Luke and Andrew - who have been talking about their experience of NYOI so far.

NYOI new musicians 2012 from Zoe Coakley on Vimeo.

A blog from the celli, by Ellen & Sinead

On the third day, we rose again; the five sleepy-heads of room 19. After nice hot showers and a rush to breakfast, rehearsals began yet again. But this time it was different. Finally all the strings had come together for the first time, after two days of sectionals. It was lovely to hear the full blend of string sound and hear how the melodies complimented the accompaniments. Only one more rehearsal until we would all come together as a family once again!

The excitement at lunch was immense (not only because it was pasta) but also because Gearóid Grant was in the building! At 13.45 we were all in our seats ready for tuning. Gearóid entered the hall to rapturous applause! And it was straight to work..

We began with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. We played through the whole piece (flawlessly, of course) and everyone was taken aback by how well it went, having never played together before. It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm on everyone’s face, old and new, especially this year as we are delighted to welcome 44 new members!

When rehearsal ended, it was announced by Conor Palliser (one of our friendly staff members) that we shall be performing a J musical as tomorrow’s evening activity. Each section has their own scene, which they must make up themselves based on a few guidelines given to us by the staff. Let’s just say it promises to be an interesting show, with each section holding private meetings and rehearsals throughout the day to discuss costumes, props, lyrics etc.

After a very successful evening rehearsal, it was finally time for some relaxation (and some more musical rehearsals!). We reflected on the days accomplishments and went to bed feeling inspired and extremely excited about what tomorrow will bring!

Back to room 19, goodnight!

Ellen & Sinead

A day in the life of the clarinets

As requested by our facebook fans here is a clip of what our clarinet section got up to today:

A day in the life of the NYOI clarinets from Zoe Coakley on Vimeo.

Introducing NYOI 2012

Today, 92 young musicians arrived in Kilkenny from all corners of Ireland to start 6 days of intense rehearsals in preparation for their concert next Monday 2nd January at 3pm in the Helix. For more info on the concert or to book tickets click here.

In the meantime we'll give you a peek behind the scenes of the NYOI course throughout our week of rehearsals.

We'll start by introducing you to the orchestra...

A few stats on NYOI 2012
There are 92 musicians in the orchestra
The youngest is 12, the oldest is 18
20 counties are represented: Antrim, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Waterford, Westmeath, Wicklow, Cork
There are 8 sets of brothers & sisters in the orchestra
Each year everyone must re-audition for NYOI, this year's orchestra sees the return of 48 musicians from last year and welcomes 44 new members
There are 56 girls and 36 boys

Meet the orchestra

1st violins - tutored by Brona Fitzgerald
David, Colma, William, Anna Livia, Molly, Luke, Phoebe, Claire, David, Emma, Emer, Saffron, Abbie, Rebecca, Richard & Breanainn

2nd violins - tutored by Ken Rice
Devin, Conor, Abbie, Aisling, Andrew, Mark, Abbie, Elizabeth, Chan, Hannah, Jessica, Maggie, Johanna, Molly, Jessica, Sarah

violas - tutored by Lisa Grosman
Martin, Aoife, Martha, Ciara, Harriet, Theo, Philip, Meabh, Ciara, Iseult

cellos - tutored by Bill Butt
Sinead, Rory, Patrick, Genevieve, Ellen, Jessie, Cormac, Caitriona, Jacqui, Lucy, Siobhan, Meabhdh

double basses - tutored by Aura Stone
Aisling, Niall, Sophie, Daire, Amy

flutes - tutored by Catriona Ryan
Amy, Mary-Ellen, Michéal, Cian

oboes - tutored by Ronan O'Reilly
Lukas, Hugh, Deirdre

clarinets - tutored by Paul Roe
Seamus, Cian, Fionnuala, Ciara

bassoons - tutored by Ates Kirkan
Ronan, Aisling, John

horns - tutored by Lesley Bishop
Peter, Eimear, Caoime, Louise, Donal

trumpets - tutored by David Collins
Patrick, Paul, Christian, Senan

trombones & tuba - tutored by Paul Frost
Clara, Conall, Adam, Conall

percussion - tutored by Richard O'Donnell
Clare, Conall, Seán, Siobhan

harps - tutored by Andreja Malir
Meabh and Clara

After travelling the country and meeting hundreds of young musicians at auditions and after hundreds of emails and phonecalls, it's so exciting to see NYOI together for the first time this year.

Tomorrow we're going to follow a section of the orchestra for a day to show you what a day in the life of an NYOI musician looks like. Leave us a comment here or on our facebook page and let us know which section of the orchestra's shoes you'd like to walk in for a day?!

Over and out for day 1!
Zoe