National Youth Orchestra Turns 40

Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada, Summer, 2000 by Sarah B. Hood

THIS YEAR 2000, WHICH IS BEING CELEBRATED AS A MILESTONE AROUND THE WORLD, IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TO Canada's National Youth Orchestra, for whom it represents a special anniversary.

It was forty years ago, in 1960, that the National Youth Orchestra (NYO) was founded. "There was a real need for even provincial youth orchestras," recalls James C. McIntosh, founder and first manager of the NYO. "It was a scattered situation with different standards: school music programs, conservatories and symphony and band workshops in small communities," he says.

At the time, when so many cultural institutions, like the Stratford Festival and the Canada Council, had just come into being, musicians were beginning to be aware of a need for some body that could carry out orchestra building on a national level.

"Recognition of this was perhaps brought out by the CBC Symphony people," he says. (The CBC musicians had achieved such a high level of recognition that renowned composer Igor Stravinsky chose them to record his Psalms.) "When I talked to Stravinsky, he told me that it was the best in-studio symphony orchestra that he had found anywhere in the world," McIntosh continues.

The reason for their sophistication was apparently that "they were able to hire the best orchestra conductors from around the world." These included great names like Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Adrian Boult, Efrem Kurtz and Sir Malcolm Sargent, among many others.

McIntosh and Harman Haakman, who was to become the NYO's first conductor, began to discuss an ambitious plan. "Harman Haakman and I sat down and planned an orchestra and band workshop to be modelled on the concept of orchestra building rather than performance," says McIntosh. Their hope was that this workshop, to be held at Stratford, would become "a launching program for a National Youth Orchestra."

The early days of the Orchestra required assiduous fundraising efforts by its supporters, sometimes at considerable cost to themselves. Once, after addressing a gathering of potential sponsors, McIntosh -- who had only bus fare in his pocket - missed his bus home, and had to spend the night on a park bench.

Since those days, of course, the National Youth Orchestra has flourished. Many influential musicians have been involved in the Orchestra; among the first was conductor Walter Susskind, who came to Canada from Britain in 1956 and played a pivotal role in the creation of the organization.

Over 600 auditions are held annually. They take place in every province, and in as many as 30 cities. Throughout the summer the students perform in national -- and sometimes international -- concert tours. Over 2,000 young musicians have received training through the National Youth Orchestra in the past four decades, and in 1996 the delegates of the World Youth Orchestra Conference in Tokyo declared Canada's National Youth Orchestra to be the best in the world.

NYO alumni are represented in all 21 principal Canadian orchestras. In fact, between one-third and one-half of the members of the Edmonton Symphony, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Orchestra London, the National Arts Centre Symphony, the National Ballet Orchestra, l'Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Toronto Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony and the Windsor Symphony trained with the National Youth Orchestra.

Most of the young musicians who study with the NYO go on to work in the music industry. In 1996 the NYO calculated that, of 1,906 living graduates who could be contacted, 1,153 were still employed in music-related fields, while 766 of these were working as musicians.

The National Youth Orchestra Music Director for 2000 is Kazuyoshi Akiyama, and faculty members include such fine musicians as Joel Quarrington (double bass) and Judy Loman (harp). Over the course of the summer, the NYO will perform a cross-Canada tour to four provinces.

"The Youth Orchestra was born in an idealistic spirit by a lot of good people," says McIntosh. "If I had to do the whole thing over again, I would. I've never lost sight of the importance of trying to do things with young people."