The National Youth Orchestra, comprising some of the top high school talent in the country, is performing in Dallas’ Meyerson Symphony Center on Saturday. Of 108 musicians in the orchestra, from 31 states and Puerto Rico, five hail from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and 12 from Texas.
Since its founding by Carnegie Hall in 2013, the NYO has played in 17 countries on four continents. This year’s North America tour stops in seven cities.
At the Dallas concert, Sir Andrew Davis will conduct the orchestra in Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, with Hilary Hahn as soloist, and American composer Valerie Coleman’s Giants of Light, a NYO commission.
The orchestra gives students the chance to learn from professional musicians, make connections and hone their craft. Many go on to study music in college and over 70 alumni have joined professional ensembles. Joshua Elmore, principal bassoonist of the Fort Worth Symphony, participated in NYO in 2015 and 2016.
Performing in last year’s NYO motivated trombonist Devin Drinan, an 18-year-old recent graduate from McKinney Boyd High School and returning member of the orchestra.
“Last year, especially going on European tour, it was such an eye-opening experience,” he said, speaking by phone from a bus ride to New York for a Carnegie Hall concert. “And it made me want to pursue [music] even more.”
“Right after it ended, college auditions started. So I immediately went from NYO to starting recordings.”
The auditions paid off. He will soon attend the New England Conservatory and study with Toby Oft, the Boston Symphony’s principal trombone. Drinan’s goal is to play in a symphony orchestra while teaching in a university or conservatory.
Not all NYO members are pursuing a career in music. Percussionist Dylan Khangsar, an 18-year-old recent graduate of Hebron High School in Lewisville, is attending Stanford University in the fall, with a major in data science and a minor in music.
“Music has definitely taught me a lot about how it’s so important to keep working at something for a long period of time,” he said. “You can only be extremely successful if you fail a bunch in the beginning.”
Both Drinan and Khangsar have performed in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, which they credit with helping them grow as musicians.
“The Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra has been a lot of help with not only building my craft, but building my love for orchestral music,” Khangsar said.
In the Dallas concert, he’ll play a range of instruments, including glockenspiel, woodblocks, triangle, ride cymbal, bass drum and timpani.
“I have never been surrounded by so many kids that knew that they wanted to pursue music as a profession,” he said. “I come from a high school where there’s a lot of kids in bands, but not as many of them pursue it professionally. And seeing how much passion these people have for it, it really inspires me that music will stay a very living art.”
Details
7:30 p.m. July 22 at the Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. $15 to $50. Dallassymphony.org.
