Carmen was stabbed to death, but violence had nothing to do with the near downfall of the young members of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra; the Georges Bizet opera provided more than a few challenging–although hardly dangerous–moments for the musicians during their first rehearsal for the 1997-1998 concert season held recently at Lewis University in Romeoville.
The initial sight reading was energetic, although slightly off key and inconsistent. The strings surged in many directions; the trumpets hurried; the flutists came in a beat too late.
“We’ll just go through it, get a feel for the music and work on it later,” said music director and conductor Lawrence Sisk, rapping the baton against his music stand.
The difficulty of the “Carmen” suite and the vigor with which the musicians attacked the piece is emblematic of the talent of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra. The musicians, ages 10 to 17, are chosen for their ability and ambition.
“There is a difference in the maturity level and in the level of difficulty of the music,” said violinist Amy Leadingham, 17, of Joliet.
“This is definitely a lot harder than the school orchestra,” added concert master John Holland, 15, of Yorkville.
The Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra, based in Joliet since 1991, was formed to provide young musicians with more experience and opportunities for performing than are available through school programs, and the suburban orchestra is attracting more serious young players to its ranks.
“Not only do we offer more challenging music, but the (school-based) musicians are probably not playing in a full orchestra with brass and winds,” said Mary Jane Johnson, 47, of Shorewood, executive director of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra.
The orchestra was founded in 1959 in Chicago by Mary K. Rosen as the Chicago Young Judea Symphony. Nine years later, a non-profit organization was formed by the musicians’ parents to provide financial support and fundraising for the symphony, and the name was changed to the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra.
MYSO was based in Chicago for nearly 30 years in the South Loop’s Fine Arts Building. The orchestra foundered after Rosen’s death in 1984 and was in the formal process of disbanding by 1989. But Nancy Denton of Joliet, board president at the time, rallied southwest suburban members and relocated the group to Joliet. After a hiatus of two seasons, the group hired Sisk, held auditions and the refurbished orchestra performed its first concert at the re-opening of Joliet’s Union Train Station.
The orchestra performs four times a season, and student musicians rehearse every Wednesday from September through the end of June. Membership has increased by more than 20 percent in the last five years, Johnson said, and the MYSO board of directors is considering the creation of a junior orchestra.
The orchestra is supported by ticket sales, membership fees and corporate sponsors as well as with funding from the Joliet and Illinois Arts Councils. In addition, Lewis University donates rehearsal facilities and Joliet Junior College supplies performance space gratis.
“We get a lot of community support,” Johnson said. She and Sisk are the only paid staff members.
Talent and experience levels range from musicians good enough to be in the best college-level orchestras to entry-level players, Sisk said. The musicians come from throughout the south and west suburbs and from as far away as Indiana to the weekly rehearsals on the second floor of the Philip Lynch Theater on the Lewis University campus. They arrive by 6 p.m., lugging leather cases that open to reveal brass, silver and mahogany instruments.
Conducting the full orchestra is a challenging task, but so is choosing the music. “I’m looking for standard repertory pieces that give all of them something to do,” said Sisk, 47, of Aurora.
And that’s not easy. Compositions by Mozart and Haydn are set up for stringed instruments, and the pieces do not offer much for trombones and low brass instruments; in fact, tubas weren’t even invented when the music was composed, Sisk said. While 19th Century compositions tend to provide more action for the brass sections, the string parts are often too hard for the young musicians to master.
“It is always a balancing act to try to keep everyone involved,” Sisk said. “My goal is to have everyone playing as much of the time as possible.”
Sisk directs the music department at Lewis University and has been with the university since 1988. In 1991, when parents from MYSO approached him, he wasn’t doing any conducting and they were looking for a conductor. They gave him Mozart’s Symphony 41 in C Major–also known as the “Jupiter” Symphony–and asked him to conduct the student orchestra.
“It was an impossible audition,” he said. “The kids couldn’t play it, and I told them so. I think they appreciated the candor.”
Recognizing their limitations doesn’t keep Sisk and his musicians from tackling difficult compositions. Incremental improvements were apparent during the first night’s rehearsal, and the musicians have performed arrangements of works by Vivaldi, Wagner and Beethoven.
Beethoven’s 1st and 5th Symphonies are among concert master John Holland’s favorites. Holland has been playing violin since he was 5 years old and has been a member of Metropolitan since he was 10. Last year, he was a featured violinist in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Violin in E Major from “The Four Seasons” and this year is responsible for leading the string section and assisting the conductor.
Holland, who also studies with a private teacher and plays in his high school orchestra, said high school musicians often did not start playing an instrument until they were in 4th or 5th grades, but the performers in the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra have been taking lessons since much earlier.
“The players are not as advanced in a school orchestra,” Holland said.
Leadingham agreed with this assessment. “In high school, orchestra is an easy credit,” she said, and more advanced musicians are stymied by the lack of experience and commitment of other students.
The MYSO musicians are dedicated to their art. In addition to the weekly rehearsals, the musicians are expected to practice on their own and with their music tutors. The hours can take their toll on a musician’s time and usually mean cutting down on extracurricular activities.
Leadingham, for example, has been playing in school orchestras since she was in 3rd grade, and she is in her fourth season with the Metropolitan. She auditioned for the orchestra after hearing it play “Flight of the Bumblebee” during a school program and gave up her involvement in softball, volleyball and basketball to focus on music. “I was so inspired,” she said.
Leadingham still plays for the Joliet Township West Orchestra, and the high school senior also works two part-time jobs in addition to taking private violin lessons.
Sara Ellebracht, 14, of Joliet, a freshman at Joliet Catholic Academy, plays the clarinet. She’s a late starter by group standards, not beginning lessons until she was 9 years old, but her private teacher suggested she audition for the orchestra.
“It was kind of scary,” Ellebracht said. “I never had to audition before.”
Ellebracht played in her junior high orchestra; her high school does not offer the same opportunity. She sees the Metropolitan as a step up from her previous performance experience. “We play a lot more music here than in band, and we don’t have to march, either,” she said.
Despite the efforts required by Sisk, orchestra members do manage to excel in other areas.
“Kids talented in music are usually talented in other things,” Sisk said. Among his musicians are math champs, science whizzes and merit scholars. “These are really brilliant kids.”
They are also well-behaved and focused.
“They really are the best behaved bunch of kids you could find,” Sisk added. “Of course, they require some reining in at times, but joy is youthful exuberance.”
The Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra will give its first concert of the 1997-98 season at 4 p.m. today at Joliet Junior College, 1215 Houbolt Rd., Joliet. For tickets or further information, call Mary Jane Johnson 815-741-1574.
