Some of the best local youth musicians are preparing to rosin their bows, limber up their fingers and fashion their reeds for a weekend concert.
After a COVID-fueled hiatus, the Stockton Youth Symphony will perform Sunday for the first time in four years. The 20-student ensemble will take the stage at 5 p.m. at Stagg High School, performing works by Handel, Haydn, Bach and Verdi. The event is free.
The program introduces student musicians from Stockton-area schools to various composers and styles of symphonic music: baroque, classical, even a touch of opera, conductor Edward Cetto said.
“We wanted it to be challenging, but we didn’t want to throw anything at them that they couldn’t do because then nobody would be having a good time,” said Cetto, a retired professor and director of choral activities at University of the Pacific. “In order for something like this to work, the students really must relish what they’re doing. And that comes as we learn these beautiful pieces together.”
Eliot Waldvogel, the youth symphony’s concertmaster, said the music is “a colossal and complex sound, so different than what we hear most of the time.”
“These are all tremendous pieces by well-established composers,” he said. “I hope other people our age would come, listen and walk away thinking that classical music is really cool and fun to play.”
Reviving the youth symphony, whose previous iterations were named after the Central Valley and San Joaquin County, was the idea of local lawyer Clarence Chan. His son, Atticus, a senior at Lincoln High School, had performed in the youth symphony while in the sixth and seventh grades. But in the intervening years, when COVID shut down local performances, students had to leave town to play in similar ensembles. Waldvogel previously played for youth symphonies in Modesto and Oakland, while Stockton’s was idle.
“There is definitely a need in San Joaquin County for something like this,” said Atticus Chan, who plays French horn in the ensemble. “I really look forward to every rehearsal. There’s a good sense of community there.”
Stockton Youth Symphony Concert
When: 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: Stagg High School theater arts auditorium
Cost: Free
Program includes:
- “Musick for the Royal Fireworks” by George Frideric Handel
- Movement 2, “Andante,” from Symphony No. 94, “Surprise,” by Franz Joseph Haydn
- “Sleepers awake, the voice is calling,” from Cantata 140 by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by Ottorino Respighi
- Overture from “Nabucco” by Giuseppe Verdi
The new youth symphony is smaller than Cetto would like, and he hopes the group will double in size in the next year or two. Currently, there is a strong need for flutists and trumpeters. Many musicians are now having to double or even triple their parts — meaning that notes written for the flute or trumpet may be played by an oboist, or tubist or other instrumentalist.
“I hope people understand that we’re all hard-working and very passionate about this music,” said student violinist Kaitlyn Adamovics, 14, a freshman at Lincoln High. “This is an amazing community of young people who are open to learning new things.”
Comradeship among the musicians is more than a byproduct of the symphony; Cetto said it’s as important as the music being played. The best groups, he said, form bonds that live long after the notes on the pages have been played and the instruments put back in their cases.
“For me, it’s a chance to connect with friends, a great way to spend a little time with them and make some great music,” Atticus Chan said. “That’s always what’s inspiring me.”
Student musicians bring a lot of energy to their weekly rehearsals, Cetto said. It makes his drive to and from San Francisco each Tuesday night in preparation for the upcoming concert an enjoyable one.
“They bring a joie de vivre that we will beat out of them in college or later in life,” he joked.
One thing Cetto does not joke about is how music will impact the students’ lives once they graduate. Most of Sunday’s ensemble won’t become professional musicians, he said, although they may continue to play in college or community organizations throughout adulthood. Atticus Chan hopes to play in a military band.
“Most of them are going to become doctors,” Cetto said. “This is only one part of their very impressive childhoods. You can tell they’re very smart, serious, well-rounded young people. And I’m happy to make music with anyone who’s serious these days.”
Still, Haydn, Handel, Bach and Verdi? For teenagers?
You bet, said Waldvogel.
“It’s more challenging than other orchestras I’ve played in, and that’s good because we need to be pushed” he said. “And it really sounds great.”