Dolcy D’Cruz
Bob Dylan, a musician with a Nobel Prize for Literature, said, “Inspiration is hard
to come by. You have to take it where you find it.” This is true for the
largest orchestra that will be visiting Goa, the German National Youth
Orchestra, with 78 musicians who are coming to inspire young Goans to take up
music and various musical instruments more seriously. Directorate of Art and
Culture, Government of Goa in association with Opus Gala will be presenting The
German National Youth Orchestra at two concerts, in Panjim and Margao respectively. The
youth orchestra comprises teenagers who are at par with professional musicians
in the world of Western Classical music. In Goa, the orchestra will be conducted
by Hermann Baumer.
The German National Youth Orchestra is Germany’s youngest
major orchestra, founded by the German Music Council in 1969. It is a 78-member orchestra, made up of
the country’s finest young musicians between the ages of 14 and 19. The young
musicians qualify by auditioning with a jury of professionals. In addition to
the world renowned conductor, Sir Simon Rattle, the orchestra has also been led
by Herbert von Karajan, Kurt Masur, Gustavo Dudamel and Kirill Petrenko.
Soloists have included Christian Tetzlaff, Tabea Zimmermann, and Fazil Say, as
well as the rock musicians Sting and Peter Maffay. Since 2013, they have been
officially mentored by the legendary Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2016,
the orchestra was awarded an Echo Klassik prize in the category ‘Classic for
Children’.
The German National Youth Orchestra has performed around the
world, often as a cultural ambassador for the Federal Republic of Germany.
Tours have taken the group to 32 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, North
America and South America. The German National Youth Orchestra will be
performing in Mumbai on January 18 and 19, 2018 and will then be heading to
Goa. In Goa, Opus Gala headed by Schubert Cotta, has been interacting with the
orchestra and planning out the concerts.
“I was approached by the German National Youth Orchestra and
I put the proposal to the Art and Culture Department, which they accepted. The orchestra
comprises youth that can
motivate our children;
they are absolutely in the first league of musicians. They are coming on a
goodwill mission; I’m grateful
to the Art and Culture Department, without whom it would not be financially possible to bring such a
big group of musicians on our own. We will be looking after their hospitality
and stay. It is an absolute privilege to see them perform. They will be coming
with big containers with their musical instruments,” says Schubert, who works
closely with musicians from Germany and has organised the concert by ‘Bujazzo’, a German Youth Jazz
Orchestra.
How is this concert going to help Goan children take music
more seriously? “Since the
year 2000, there has been growth in interest in music among children.
Through this concert, they will be able to see and learn about the various
instruments that the orchestra is using. There are big horns which even girls
can play; there’s the
double bass that was
once found in every village in Goa but now we no longer have them and so no one
plays it,” explains Schubert.
The orchestra will be inaugurated in Panjim at the hands of
Chief Minister of Goa,
Manohar Parrikar, along
with Govind Gaude, Minister for Art and Culture and other dignitaries, and in Margao at the hands of Vijay
Sardesai, Minister for Town and
Country Planning.
The concert will be held at Dinanath Mangueshkar
Hall, Kala Academy, Panjim on January 23, 2018 at 7pm and at Pai Tiatrist
Auditorium, Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on
