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Windsor music students to embark on European tour in June
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| MUSICIANS — Jared Jacobs, Jason Fauss, Thomas John Tangney, Robby Morales, Emily Mueller, David Tangney - Photo provided |
By Ryan Rudnansky
Staff Writer
Six student musicians from Windsor in the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra will get the chance of a lifetime in June as part of the orchestra’s commemoration of its 50th anniversary.
Jason Fauss (cello), Jared Jacobs (percussion), and Robby Morales (viola) of Windsor High School; David and Thomas John Tangney, who attend Santa Rosa High School and Santa Rosa Middle School respectively; and Emily Mueller of Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa will be performing with 55 of their fellow colleagues in Europe beginning June 17.
Student musicians will tour and perform in Prague in the Czech Republic and Leipzig and Berlin, Germany, during their week-long European Tour.
It’s the first time in the Youth Orchestra’s 50-year history that students have been given the opportunity to travel on an international tour.
Jacobs, a freshman at WHS, hasn’t had to wait very long to play in Europe. This is the first year he has been a member of the Youth Orchestra.
“I was really excited because it was my first year and it was the 50th anniversary,” Jacobs said.
Eighteen months ago, Santa Rosa Symphony (SRS) Director of Education Margie Harrison-Smith and SRS decided to give student musicians three choices for the 50th anniversary: a “big party” in Sonoma County, a tour of the United States, or a European tour. The answer was clear.
“Overwhelmingly the response was, ‘We want to go to Europe,’” Harrison-Smith said. “This is our first international tour for the Youth Orchestra so this is a big deal for the entire organization.”
“The excitement has been growing all season,” she added. “I think in some respects it didn’t feel real.”
From June 18-20, students will tour Prague, with sights such as the Prague Castle, Wenceslas Square, and St. Vitus Cathedral, attend a professional concert, and perform at St. Savior’s Church. From June 21-22, they will travel to Leipzig and visit the Thomaskirche-where Johann Sebastian Bach was the organist-attend a masterclass with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, and perform at the Bad Schmiedegerg festival. In addition, from June 23-24 students will actually perform with their German counterparts from the Potsdam Youth Orchestra in the Grunewaldkirche (Green Forest Church) in Berlin.
“We have worked hard to expose our young musicians to the classical music tradition understood in the Bay Area,” Harrison-Smith said of SRS. “I’m very excited we’re going to be able to offer the European tradition and European perspective (now). This is a wonderful opportunity for our young musicians. Not only will they get to meet professional musicians, but they’ll also get to perform with their peers.”
Jacobs and WHS junior Jason Fauss seemed most excited about their upcoming performance with students from the Potsdam Youth Orchestra.
“I think it’s really neat,” Jacobs said. “They might not speak the same language, but they’re playing the same language.”
“I think it would be really fun to play with a German partner,” said Fauss, who plans to stay in France until July 7 after students return to the U.S. on June 25.
Joella Olsen, a music volunteer in Windsor, felt that the tour would give students a “different view on music” playing with a European crowd.
“Music is very universal,” she said.
The tour is being made possible by student fundraising efforts such as the sale of tickets for their concerts this year, bake sales, silent auctions, and a Christmas CD they put out during the holidays.
Upcoming fundraising activities include the Play On! Golf Tournament on April 27 at Oakmont Golf Club and the Youth Orchestra Bon Voyage concert on June 7 at Sonoma Country Day School.
Anyone interested in donating to the Youth Orchestra for the European Tour can contact Harrison-Smith at 546-7097, ext. 219.
Jason Fauss (cello), Jared Jacobs (percussion), and Robby Morales (viola) of Windsor High School; David and Thomas John Tangney, who attend Santa Rosa High School and Santa Rosa Middle School respectively; and Emily Mueller of Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa will be performing with 55 of their fellow colleagues in Europe beginning June 17.
Student musicians will tour and perform in Prague in the Czech Republic and Leipzig and Berlin, Germany, during their week-long European Tour.
It’s the first time in the Youth Orchestra’s 50-year history that students have been given the opportunity to travel on an international tour.
Jacobs, a freshman at WHS, hasn’t had to wait very long to play in Europe. This is the first year he has been a member of the Youth Orchestra.
“I was really excited because it was my first year and it was the 50th anniversary,” Jacobs said.
Eighteen months ago, Santa Rosa Symphony (SRS) Director of Education Margie Harrison-Smith and SRS decided to give student musicians three choices for the 50th anniversary: a “big party” in Sonoma County, a tour of the United States, or a European tour. The answer was clear.
“Overwhelmingly the response was, ‘We want to go to Europe,’” Harrison-Smith said. “This is our first international tour for the Youth Orchestra so this is a big deal for the entire organization.”
“The excitement has been growing all season,” she added. “I think in some respects it didn’t feel real.”
From June 18-20, students will tour Prague, with sights such as the Prague Castle, Wenceslas Square, and St. Vitus Cathedral, attend a professional concert, and perform at St. Savior’s Church. From June 21-22, they will travel to Leipzig and visit the Thomaskirche-where Johann Sebastian Bach was the organist-attend a masterclass with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, and perform at the Bad Schmiedegerg festival. In addition, from June 23-24 students will actually perform with their German counterparts from the Potsdam Youth Orchestra in the Grunewaldkirche (Green Forest Church) in Berlin.
“We have worked hard to expose our young musicians to the classical music tradition understood in the Bay Area,” Harrison-Smith said of SRS. “I’m very excited we’re going to be able to offer the European tradition and European perspective (now). This is a wonderful opportunity for our young musicians. Not only will they get to meet professional musicians, but they’ll also get to perform with their peers.”
Jacobs and WHS junior Jason Fauss seemed most excited about their upcoming performance with students from the Potsdam Youth Orchestra.
“I think it’s really neat,” Jacobs said. “They might not speak the same language, but they’re playing the same language.”
“I think it would be really fun to play with a German partner,” said Fauss, who plans to stay in France until July 7 after students return to the U.S. on June 25.
Joella Olsen, a music volunteer in Windsor, felt that the tour would give students a “different view on music” playing with a European crowd.
“Music is very universal,” she said.
The tour is being made possible by student fundraising efforts such as the sale of tickets for their concerts this year, bake sales, silent auctions, and a Christmas CD they put out during the holidays.
Upcoming fundraising activities include the Play On! Golf Tournament on April 27 at Oakmont Golf Club and the Youth Orchestra Bon Voyage concert on June 7 at Sonoma Country Day School.
Anyone interested in donating to the Youth Orchestra for the European Tour can contact Harrison-Smith at 546-7097, ext. 219.
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