Youth Orchestra’s summer program looking for new talent
Children with a passion for music are encouraged to join in.
From classical Beethoven and Vivaldi to traditional folk, this orchestra — made up of musicians ranging from first-graders to recent college graduates — covers it all with barely a missed note.
“I have been playing for two years and my favorite part about being a musician is that I get to play songs,” said Gabrielle Clarke, 6.
Clarke is among the hundreds of musicians in the Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach. The orchestra’s most recent concert was on April 30 at the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton before an audience sitting on blankets and beach chairs. The orchestra has put out a call for a summer program for novice musicians.
“We have always strive to give back to the community and make the orchestra experience available to all children,” said Michael Fraley, music director and conductor of the orchestra. “We were very fortunate to receive the grant through the Community Foundation of Martin & Palm Beach Counties, now we are looking to continue the program and are seeking funding to make that happen.”
The children’s ages range from 6 to 22 years old, and they are drawn from Martin County down to Fort Lauderdale. The orchestra consisted of brass, woodwind, and strings in four separate orchestras: the training orchestra, string orchestra, symphony orchestra and philharmonic orchestra.
Fraley added that he co-wrote a grant for a program to make strings available to t wo Title 1 schools in Boca Raton, JC Mitchell and Boca Elementary.
In fact, the musicians reflected a diverse group, including children who are home-schooled and in private schools.
It’s also somewhat of a family affair. The performance began with the Star Spangled Banner played by the chamber strings coached by Suzanne Prescott with her son playing and her husband Kyle as one of the conductors.
For Cl a rke, t hough, i t ’s a n opportunity to play the violin.
She said her mother, Donna Clarke, has been her favorite teacher. Asked if she ever gets nervous playing on stage she responded, “no, bec ause I’m confident.”
Gabrielle said it is difficult to For more information on the Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County go to www.yopbc.org or email them at yomail@yopbc.org.
practice but she enjoys it and her mother is trying to get her to play piano as well.
The youth orchestra is now hosting a “Mini Mozart Summer Camp” in Boca Raton designed for the younger students such as Gabrielle, ages 5 to 8 with little to no experience. Instrument rental is included with the summer c amp and is intended to help students evolve to play in the future orchestra events.
T h e o r c h e s t r a ’s g o a l i s t o encourage students who have a passion for music to join because children need all the experience they can get and they believe it is a great way to build a resume for the collegiate years.
Fraley enjoys being part of this experience and wanted to shed some light on the difficulties of being a musician.
“I would tell any student who has a passion for the arts/music to study and work very, very, very hard. It’s an extremely competitive field with narrow opportunities. Having said that, it’s also an extraordinarily rewarding field.”