From the Music Library to the Stage
By Ben Van Wienen, Music Librarian & Artistic Coordinator
GTCYS students are learning new music, making friends, and building community in their first months of the 2024-25 season. These bright young musicians are delving into pieces like Adrian Gordon’s A Hero’s Journey, played by Camerata Vivace, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, played by Philharmonic.
GTCYS conductors select each piece with care during months of planning and preparation leading up to the new season. As Music Librarian & Artistic Coordinator, I have a front-row seat while they’re selecting repertoire—here’s what they’re thinking about.
Focusing on Culture and Community
When considering a piece, GTCYS conductors think deeply about many things, including what they’d like to teach with it and the music’s background. Using music to teach students about the piece and its cultural significance to themselves, their community, and other cultures is central to what we do. We often look outside of the historically celebrated canon of Western classical music to do so.
Once the pieces are selected, I start preparing sheet music. This year, I had extra help from my music librarian interns! Then, with the help of staff, many volunteers, and interns, we print out the music parts and materials to fill students’ folders, ready to be delivered at first rehearsals.
New Season, New Sheet Music
These rehearsals are always filled with anticipation. When students open their folders for the first time, they enter a world of opportunity, with the chance to grow together through carefully selected music. For instance, in Camerata Con Brio this year, students will build their accompaniment abilities performing “This, Too, Shall Pass Away” from Four Symphonic Verses by Robert Sterling, a piece which features a narrator reciting the poem of the same title by Lanta Wilson Smith. Students in Concert Orchestra will learn advanced harmonies with pieces like Iranian composer’s Farhand Poupel’s Childhood Memories. This is a personal favorite of mine because of its uniquely beautiful melodies! In Philharmonia East, Philharmonia West, Sinfonia West, and Symphony, GTCYS musicians will learn about art and the musical genius of Modest Mussorgsky by playing different arrangements of his monumental piece, Pictures at an Exhibition.
Personal Development Through Music
Through all this music and more, members of the GTCYS community learn new skills in tandem. The season is full of chances for everyone to play their part, and we can’t wait to share it with you at GTCYS concerts throughout the year!
Hear GTCYS students at Orchestra Hall during Fall Festival! Our 11 school-year orchestras will showcase the 2024-25 repertoire in three consecutive concerts on November 9 and 10. Purchase your tickets on the Minnesota Orchestra’s website.