Queen’s University to host National Youth Orchestra residency

The National Youth Orchestra of Canada (NYO Canada) will be spending time at Queen’s University this summer, taking full advantage of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts (“the Isabel”) and the DAN School of Drama and Music’s Harrison-LeCaine Hall. The full-scholarship, pre-eminent training orchestra for musicians aged 16 to 28 is said to be one of the most innovative and skilled youth orchestras in the world.

The University will be the 2022 creative home for NYO Canada from Sunday, Jun. 19, 2022, to Wednesday, Jul. 20, 2022. The residency will include orchestral rehearsals and performances led by NYO Canada’s internationally acclaimed Music Director, Sascha Goetzel, student chamber music concerts, faculty concerts, world premieres, audition training, private lessons, chamber music coaching, sectionals, cultural industries workshops, masterclasses, recording and streaming, and multi-platform performance coaching on state-of-the-art equipment, according to a release from the university.

The video about the NYO Canada residency at Queen’s University can be viewed here:  https://www.isabeldigitalconcerthall.queensu.ca/events/national-youth-orchestra-of-canada-at-queen-s-university-in-2022.

“We will be providing a superb concert hall for these superb young musicians who represent the future of Canadian orchestral musicianship. We are also thrilled to be bringing National Youth Orchestra of Canada to the world through high-fidelity recording and films as well as providing multi-platform performance delivery training to the young musicians interested in the field of creative producing,” said Tricia Baldwin, Director of the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.

National Youth Orchestra of Canada was last resident at Queen’s University almost two decades ago in 2003, prior to the Isabel Bader Centre being built, according to the release. The Isabel hosted the joint National Youth Orchestra of Canada and European Union Youth Orchestra concert on Nov. 13, 2019, as part of the orchestras’ Frenergy Tour that united the two orchestras for the first time as well as part of the Isabel’s Virtuosi Festival.

NYO Canada President and CEO Barbara Smith stated: “NYO Canada is delighted to return to Queen’s University for our 2022 residency. Queen’s was a fantastic partner for more than a decade, and we look forward to returning to the campus that has since added the stunning Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, a hub of artistic ingenuity that continued its mandate even amidst a worldwide pandemic. We look forward to being a part of the thriving cultural centre of Kingston, and we hope to engage the population there with our orchestral and chamber concerts featuring the elite musicians of NYO Canada.”

“It is an honour to be welcoming Canada’s National Youth Orchestra, one of Canada’s foremost artist training programs, to Queen’s University this summer,” added Mark Green, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic). “At Queen’s, we are deeply committed to collaborating with local and national organizations that share our goal of fostering learning and discovery. I’m so pleased that the next generation of leading musicians from across Canada will be rehearsing and performing in Queen’s award-winning Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.”