NEWSLETTER
Norfolk & Norwich Novi Sad Association
Dedicated to Friendship
No. 154
August 2018
Editorial: G. Piccolo
e-mail: editor@nnnsa.org.uk
THE TRIORCA EUROPEAN
YOUTH ORCHESTRA.
28 July 2018
Peter Beckley, MBE
On the 28th July the
Triorca European Youth
Orchestra delighted its
audience with an
outstanding performance.
The young musicians, apart
from the well deserved
appreciation, also
experienced some
unexpected “drama” on the
way to the concert (see
Peter’s article).
It is the end of August -
yes, already!- and the date
of departure for the annual
Novi Sad trip is round the
corner. Sandra, from the
Novi Sad travel agency
Kompass, is putting
together the last details of
the visit. I am sure every
participant will enjoy the
visit and those of us who
cannot join them will have
to wait for the article in the
next newsletter to have a
taste of their experience.
The visit will also be an
opportunity for the
Association to take to the
"Milan Petrovi
ć
" School
some of the funds
generously donated for its
pupils.
The visit to Norwich of the Triorca European Youth Orchestra
can only be considered as a fantastic success!
Sixty-seven young performers from the three centres of
Novi Sad, Koblenz, and Norwich spent a busy week
rehearsing and playing together. Many friendships were
renewed and many more begun in an atmosphere of
International co-operation that is very rare at this time when
there is very little financial support from authorities. It is
probably the only local organisation at the moment that
fosters European pupil exchange. The importance of
sponsorship and grants has never been greater and a
donation from the Norfolk & Norwich Novi Sad Association
(The Paddy Goldring Fund) enabled the Serbian contingent to
make a significant contribution to their share of the costs.
Invitations to receptions at City Hall and County Hall
provided an opportunity for some of the youngsters to
demonstrate their musical skills and for everyone to meet
‘those who help’.
The support of ‘OPEN’ at
Bank Plain was nothing short
of incredible as they acted as
‘hosts’ to the orchestra -
providing a space for
everyone to congregate, eat,
and rehearse. The
youngsters were able to
recognise this as their ‘base’
and, being so central in
Norwich, provided ample opportunity to look round the City
with the Norwich youngsters acting as ‘guides’.
Programme
Contuctor – Nicholas Daniel
Sergei Prokofiev - Peter & the Wolf
Narrator: Alistair Farrall-Daniel
Erich Korngold –
Violin Concert in D major
Soloist – Julia Hwang
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky –
Symphony no 5.
The Tutors and other professionals worked wonders in a short space of time honing and
polishing performances - building on weeks of preparation by the ‘home teams’.
One of the ’highlights’ of the visit was a visit to the ‘Proms’ at the Royal Albert Hall. The
coach driver had time to divert and provide a short tour of London’s famous streets and
buildings. The whole event proved to be of such success that the Serbian contingent remarked
that their lives are now divided into the “period before the Promenade Concert at the Royal
Albert Hall and the period after!”
The concerts were considered to be ‘mind-blowing’ by many of the participating youngsters.
The concert at OPEN in Norwich on the evening of the penultimate day was considered by
many to be the best performance by an orchestra at that venue and was of a quality that is
expected of visiting professional orchestras to the City.
The final day and the visit to Saffron Hall at Saffron Walden proved to be quite an adventure.
The coach that was taking all the orchestra and tutors to the venue from Norwich caught fire on
the way!
Once the orchestra, their instruments and their luggage were safely on the bank of the A11
we get the impression that the young people thought it was great fun and a sort of
‘entertainment’ laid on for their benefit! We understand it was ‘all smoke’ and no conflagration.
As far as the organisers were concerned the delay in getting a substitute coach (which was
smaller and had to ‘shuttle’ backwards and forwards in to collect two batches of performers)
meant hours of delay and a complete rescheduling of rehearsals as well as finding time to feed
everyone and get them composed before the performance. The sheer professionalism of all
involved provided a concert of exceptional quality which is probably best summed up in the
following observation by our Hon. Vice President Paul King and his wife Hester:
“….We were simply bowled over by the concert and the tremendous talent of the Triorca
European Youth Orchestra.
Julia Hwang gave a stunning performance and it is hard to believe she is only 22.
The Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 was played as well as we have ever heard it. Nicholas
Daniel was such an enthusiastic and outstanding conductor.
How marvellous it must be for these young people to get together for a week and, in such a
short time, to achieve the standards of any one of the great Symphony Orchestras. The final
work was a tour-de-force….”