WA Youth Orchestras is fortunate to provide access to several high quality orchestral instruments as part of our Scholarship Program. Emma is one of the recipients of a 2023 Violin Scholarship.  She writes about her WAYO experience:

I began playing in the WA Youth Orchestras Association in 2017 in Sinfonietta. After spending a year in Sinfonietta, Collegium and Philharmonic, I joined the WA Youth Orchestra in 2020. I have learnt so much from all the different ensembles and they have all strongly contributed to my musical journey thus far. Being my first ever experiences playing in an orchestra (Sinfonietta) and in a symphony orchestra (Philharmonic), playing in the WAYO ensembles has certainly grown my love for orchestral and symphonic music and has taught me so much about ensemble playing. I still remember my first orchestra rehearsal ever, with Jeanette Teh in Sinfonietta, playing a very simplified ‘Sinfonietta’ version of the 1st movement of Beethoven’s 6th Symphony. I recently came across this piece again and it brought back all the memories from that very special, first rehearsal!

Rehearsing and performing with WAYO over the past few years has been amazing, and I have cumulated countless highlights and memorable experiences as we always play such fun repertoire with some very inspiring conductors and musicians. One standout that springs to mind is playing the Rite of Spring last January. This was initially for our 2021 July season but was postponed due to Covid. That however, didn’t affect the fun we had nor the concert outcome! It was one of the coolest concerts I’ve ever been in, performing a masterpiece with such talented musicians and dancers who brought the work to life. I had never played a piece quite like it before, with its pagan storyline, crazy time signature changes, harmonic dissonances, and polyrhythms. It is so different from the repertoire I normally play, and even the pieces I had played in WAYO prior, but that made it all the more memorable and special to play. It’s always a very satisfying feeling to take on challenging repertoire, especially to perform it the same week! To this day, the Rite of Spring remains one of my favourite orchestral works. Other highlights I must mention include performing Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony (another favourite!) on my birthday, learning from all the inspiring conductors and meeting some lifelong friends! I’d like to thank the WAYO team for always finding such awesome pieces and organising great experiences such as the international conductor seasons. I look forward to our upcoming Pictures at an Exhibition concert with WASO, and Legends concert.

I feel very privileged to be able to play on a beautiful 1926 Lloyd Adams violin and I am endlessly grateful for WAYO’s violin scholarship. It was a massive contrast to the violin I had prior, and I am very blessed to have access to such a wonderful instrument. Every now and then, whether I’m practicing, rehearsing, or performing, I remind myself how lucky I am to have this violin, how beautiful the tone is and just how enjoyable it is to play. I want to thank WAYO for all their support and generosity in giving me the opportunity to play on this instrument.