“What’s so great about seeing the YOSA[Youth Orchestras of San Antonio] Philharmonic is you have these young musicians who bring a level of energy and engagement to what they do that will blow you away,” says Troy Peters, YOSA Music Director.
Peters is talking about their upcoming concert on Sunday, November 3 at 7 p.m. at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. The YOSA Philharmonic is currently prepping to perform Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird,” along with fellow Russian Dmitri Shostakovich’s cello concerto, featuring Christine Lamprea.
The cellist is a former San Antonian herself, who attended Stinson Middle School and enrolled in YOSA. After studying at Juilliard and the New England Conservatory, she’s based in New York and has of late been performing as a solo and chamber musician, as well as teaching herself at both Juilliard and Texas Christian University.
YOSA, Lamprea says, had “a really big impact on [her] musical development.”
Peters enthuses about Lamprea’s return to YOSA, “With an artist of Christine’s caliber, you have this world-class professional on the front of the stage, leading us through the whole enterprise…. And the kids responding to her energy and insight… I can’t overstate how exciting it is.”
The program on Sunday also includes two works by diverse voices. George Walker’s “Lyric For Strings,” written by the African-American composer in 1946 as a memorial for his grandmother, is “absolutely gorgeous music,” Peters says. Chinese-American composer Stella Sung’s “Loco-Motion” will also be performed.
Peters says there’s nothing quite like seeing and hearing great music performed by a student ensemble. “I am a huge fan of my friends in the San Antonio Symphony,” Peters explains. “They do a great job! But when you hear them play ‘The Firebird,’ some of them are playing it for the tenth time, or the twentieth time. When you see a stage full of teenagers playing this music for the first time, you can feel the adrenaline. And that is a thrilling experience for an audience member.”
