In Friday’s (7/12) Australian Financial Review, Katarina Kroslakova reports that Christoph Eschenbach and Joshua Bell “are coming to Australia next month to work with the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO); Eschenbach conducting and Bell as soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. After performances in Sydney and Melbourne (August 3, 5), the musicians will set off on a two-week tour of major European festivals. Considering these two global stars are used to working with orchestras such as the Vienna and Israel Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris, a commitment to a project like the AYO tour speaks volumes about the importance of music education. … The bulk of the AYO’s funding comes from the Australian government’s Office for the Arts (46 per cent). … It’s not just musicians such as Bell and Eschenbach who work with youth orchestras. … Russian Valery Gergiev, undoubtedly the world’s busiest jet-setting conductor and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, is currently in the middle of a tour with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA.” Colin Cornish, chief executive of the AYO since 2005, comments, “The power of music to feed your brain, improve your memory, increase your confidence and your resilience—that’s really underestimated.’ ”
Posted July 15, 2013
