Phila. Orchestra musicians mentor young players in Carnegie collaboration

PURCHASE, N.Y. - Is some sort of ultra-repetitive Philip Glass piece being rehearsed behind closed doors at the State University of New York at Purchase music building? Or are musicians practicing their scales with a go-for-broke aggression?

National Youth Orchestra 2, formed this year under the auspices of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, has teenagers from around the country learning their professional craft with some of the busiest members of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

"They're getting a chance to work in ways that they wouldn't in their home town," said Philadelphia Orchestra bassist Joe Conyers, who is particularly keen to work with what's called the URC contingent - students from under-represented communities. The idea is to bring together young musicians who might feel like voices in the wilderness - as Conyers once was.

"I was the only bass player in my youth orchestra," said the Savannah-raised Conyers, "and now we have a woman here from Albany, Georgia."

Principal trumpeter David Bilger is coaching the brass section in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, saying,with typical tact, "I sort of believe it, but not totally."

In the large concert hall, conductor Giancarlo Guerrero is more blustery, shouting out staccato directions but always calling the teenagers "my friends."

Conyers tells a bass player that he sounds like "mushy cereal," but with too much good humor to cause offense. Clarinetist Ricardo Morales is having such a good time that he's making his students late: "We were clarineting too much, got into the orchestra rehearsal late, and had a little scolding. It was all my fault."

The results arrive in Philadelphia in a few different manifestations. A standard symphonic concert featuring NYO2 (as it's abbreviated) and the Philadelphia Orchestra, playing both alternately and side by side, is at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Kimmel Center. At noon Sunday, the amassed forces of the Philadelphia Orchestra, NYO2, and its older predecessor, National Youth Orchestra USA (NYO-USA), converge at the 23rd Street Armory in a concert including the final movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 that, with some 350 musicians, could blow the roof off.

"The biggest challenge is to get all 350 people seated comfortably," said Lio Kuokman, the Philadelphia Orchestra assistant conductor who will lead the Tchaikovsky. "We'll have a rehearsal in the morning and I'll find out what sections need my help." Unlike past conductors, who have struggled to make themselves seen amid the armory's expanse, Kuokman has no plans to conduct with a flashlight.

The isn't-it-great-to-play-Respighi atmosphere is tempered by sessions on what might be ahead in a music career - beyond playing their instruments.

"I was telling the kids today that the people they're meeting this week, they will know all through their careers as adults," said violinist Amy Oshiro-Morales. "The kids we meet as teenagers . . . grow up to be our managers, our conductors, or the person sitting next to you that you can't stand. So don't be screwing that up today."

Earlier in the week, the Philadelphians held what they called a "shark tank" session. "Students pitched their ideas to three 'sharks,' " Conyers said. "They are learning social entrepreneur skills, how to put themselves out in the world, how to be leaders in the community with their instruments in their hands. That spin on the NY02 program is super-significant."

Most Philadelphia Orchestra members are involved in training young musicians, privately or publicly, in any number of endeavors, from Project 440 in Philadelphia to Saratoga Orchestra Study (SOS). Their involvement with the NYO2 is an extension of the orchestra's longtime relationship with Carnegie Hall, while NYO2 itself is an extension of the hall's high-profile NYO-USA, which has a European tour this summer under Valery Gergiev.

Many applicants turned out to be the best in their schools, but had no "aspirational peer group" (in the words of Sarah Johnson, director of Carnegie's Weill Institute) or were too young for the 16-to-19 age cutoff for NYO-USA.

One of them is 14-year-old Braden Ellis from Broomall. Ellis is one of Conyers' students during the school year and aspires to play in stage-related orchestras, whether Broadway or opera. Stagnating is not allowed with Conyers. "He always tries to move me along," Ellis said.

In master classes, the teachers talk about the range of possible tempos on their instrument, how conductor Guerrero fits into that. They might appear to be talking in code with advice such as "Subdivide like crazy" or "Play under the note."

"Bad habits start from day one, which is why it's so important to work with people this young," Bilger said. "They're trying to overcome things from early training or from the natural way that they approach the instrument that isn't quite right."

That kind of improvement requires something intensive, which makes the geographically set-apart locale of SUNY-Purchase a plus.

"We have four different venues, dorms, green space. We want the students to be focused on what they're doing," said Johnson, "and not be hugely distracted by the sights and sounds of New York City or Philadelphia. They're hanging out at night playing chamber music ... reading things together."

dstearns@phillynews.com

Concerts at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Kimmel Center and noon Sunday at the 23rd Street Armory. General admission tickets for Saturday are free and available at 215-893-1999, www.philorch.org, or the Kimmel Center box office. Tickets are not required for the Sunday concert. Seating is general admission.