The players on the National Youth Band of Great Britain continue to work hard under the baton of guest conductor Sarah Ioannides as they focus on their upcoming concert in Saffron Walden on the weekend.

There was however a focus on solo excellence earlier this week with eight outstanding performers taking part in the annual Harry Mortimer Solo Competition.

Judged by Sarah Ioannides alongside NYBBGB Artistic Director Dr Robert Childs and Lt Col David Barringer MBE, Commanding Officer of the Household Division Bands, the finalists were accompanied Jonathan Musgrave.

Conductor Sarah Ioannides had to repeatedly return to the rostrum at Saffron Hall on Saturday evening to accept the applause of the audience at the conclusion of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain’s end of course concert.

Speaking to many listeners after the event, the curtain-call acclaim was fully justified as the Music Director of the Symphony Tacoma in Washington State drew out playing of rich maturity from the 80 young musicians under her command.

The plaudits came after the conducting catalyst inspired memorable performances from a demanding programme that included two world premieres as well as the ‘Windows of the World’ and ‘Pines of Rome’ suites.

The performance videos are now available on Youtube.

Welcome aboard, conductors and composers of the 6th Annual Cascade Conducting Masterclass! This year, we have a diverse cohort of participants from various cultural and educational backgrounds. The attendees will have the opportunities to sharpen their skills in orchestral conducting under Sarah’s guidance, learning choral conducting with our beloved Dr. Geoferry Boers, and studying composition closely with Dr. David Ludwig, dean of the music division at the prestigious Juilliard.

Under the lead of Dr.Boers, the Choral Final concert will take place at The Lagerquist Hall of PLU on Friday, June 30th at 7:30 pm, performed by members of Symphony Tacoma Voices and conducted by the participants of the Choral Conducting Masterclass. The composer’s workshop with Dr. Ludwig will be held on Saturday, July 1st 9am at The Lagerquist Hall; and the program will be closed out by the orchestral conducting students’ final concert, which will take place on the same day at 3pm and performed by Symphony Tacoma’s musicians. All three concerts are free to the public! We will also live stream these concerts through the Orquesta Northwest YouTube page.

These final concerts will present a week full of exploration, learning, collaboration, and growth, by these incredibly talented and diverse participants, that you will not want to miss!