A few days ago, on Nov. 9, I had a performance with my orchestra, The Pioneer Valley Symphony Youth Orchestra, which partnered with the Strings for Kids, a group of younger musicians who are building their string-playing skills so they can one day join the orchestra. The Strings for Kids had just finished, the audience had quieted down once again, and we had just finished tuning our instruments. Our conductor, Hannah Smeltz, walked on stage, greeted us, and we were ready to jump right in. After the performance, I felt truly satisfied. I thought we did really well and had a strong sound that each of us contributed to. It was probably our best performance since I joined the orchestra.
I joined the orchestra one year ago and even as new people joined in, I still felt like I could connect with everyone. I felt close to my section, which is the string section, but I also felt connected to other people, too. It was like our orchestra was a mini town: we have our close ties within our neighborhoods, but we are also comfortable to talk to others in our town as well.
Whenever I go to orchestra rehearsal, even if something is going on in school, I step in unafraid, ready for music. I step into orchestra rehearsal as a different “me,” the “me” that usually only my closest friends see. And that is only something a true community could do. Something that only a true, kind, caring and hardworking community could do.
Over the years I have learned many things from being in an orchestra: how to play the bells, how to play in a group, how to listen to others’ sound, how to turn pages fast and efficiently in a piece, how to look at the conductor while looking at the music, etc. But most of all, I have seen that an orchestra builds a community. A community that is connected through music. A community where we work together to push through learning hard music and then polishing our playing until we can finally take it on stage, like we did on Nov. 9.
Victoria Bai, 12, member of the Pioneer Valley Symphony Youth Orchestra
Sunderland