Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.
Youth Orchestras of San Antonio recently took its young musicians on a tour of the United Kingdom. And this is something that happens with regularity. Every two years, YOSA makes a trip overseas.
Music Director Troy Peters says this is a kind of learning that can only be had in one way:
“This is something we do every two years, and this time we did a UK tour where We went to London, England, and then we went up to the north to York, which is a really beautiful town in the north of England, and we finished up in Edinburgh, Scotland,” Peters said.
Peters said the experience can be eye-opening. For many students, it's their first time traveling outside the country — and sometimes even outside Texas.
“For a lot of our YOSA musicians, these trips are the first time they've ever been out of the country, and every once in a while, I'll have a kid say to me, 'This is the first time I've ever been outside of Texas,' or even occasionally, 'This is the first time I've ever been outside of Bexar County,’" he said.
The trip wasn't just about travel. YOSA orchestra also performed at several notable venues.
“Every time we go on tour, we play concerts, and we played a venue in London called Smith Square. That's a church that has been converted into a concert hall,” Peters said.
“We played a really historic church in Harrogate, England, near York, and then we played Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland, which is really the premier orchestral concert hall in Scotland, and we had a full house and lots of energy from the audience, and that's lots of fun.”
In Edinburgh, YOSA musicians also performed alongside a local youth orchestra, giving students a chance to connect with peers from another country.
Peters said one moment in Scotland stood out.
“All through the tour, we had been playing as an encore a Scottish folk song called Skye Boat Song, and a lot of people might know it as the theme from the television show Outlander, but it's also a beloved Scottish folk song,” Peters said.
“When we played it in Edinburgh, Scotland, we played the first notes, and it starts with a melody in the oboe, and the audience gasped. There was this incredible moment of inhalation from hundreds of people, and you could see everybody in the orchestra immediately smiled. It felt like the whole room connected on their delight at having these Texas kids bring them one of their most beloved melodies played really beautifully.”
