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!

Symphony Tacoma finished the 2022-23 season with a diverse and provoking program on Saturday, May 13 – themed Blues, Tangos and Rhapsodies. Saturday’s performance featured works by Florence Price, Claudio Constantini, and George Gershwin. The blending of genres, styles, and cultures was a celebration to conclude this concert season.

Sarah Ioannides led the orchestra with craft, and Symphony Tacoma sounded fantastic in Price’s rich scoring. Ethiopia’s Shadow… had vibrant colors, exciting string tremolos, artful solos. The work showcased the entire orchestra. Solos by concertmaster Svend Rønning and principal cellist Alistair MacRae filled the Pantages Theater with singing musicianship and warm vibrato. The audience enthusiasm for Price’s music was obvious in the applause and cheers from the audience. It is wonderful to see how concert culture, artistic significance, and social justice can combine in a performance.

The centerpiece of Saturday’s concert was the Concerto for Bandoneon and Orchestra by Claudio Constantini. Constantini was also the soloist in the concerto. Likely not an everyday instrument for most Tacomans, the bandoneon is a push-button accordion. The bandoneonist raises a leg on a platform, balances the middle of the instrument on the raised thigh, and uses both arms to expand and contract the bellows. All of this, while the player uses his fingers to press buttons that produce pitches, melodies, and chords. The bandoneon is a wonderful sight and incredible sound! The expressiveness and volume control Constantini plays with the bandoneon are virtuosic.

After intermission, Constantini returned as piano soloist for a concert favorite, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Rhapsody… obviously appealed to the audience, when some audience whoops and cheers followed Craig Rine’s famous opening clarinet scoops. The interplay between the piano solos and orchestra interludes were expertly timed under Ioannides’ leadership. The comfort of the jazz medium was obvious in Constantini’s playing.

What makes a thing a whole, a unity? Thoughts of how parts separate and come together, how contrasts remain connected by their differences and enable us to return to the familiar, were prominent during Saturday evening’s concert (Saturday, Apr 22, 2023) at the Pantages Theater, titled Dancing Mallets & Pulsing Percussion. Symphony Tacoma, led by conductor Sarah Ioannides, gave a driving and joyful performance of works old and new, including the world premiere of Nick DiBerardino’s Double Percussion Concerto for which they were joined by the night’s featured soloists, Garrett Arney and Mari Yoshinaga of Arx Duo.

As though in answer to an unspoken question, the full weight of the orchestra opened from an explosive point, joined by Garrett Arney and Mari Yoshinaga on a pair of marimbas. Immediately the parts diverged, as contrasting rhythms and themes scattered across the hall. …In a conversation the day before, arx duo discussed the Double Percussion Concerto, “When someone sees a concerto for percussion, they expect to hear something loud, with virtuosic and exposed percussion parts, but [the Double Percussion Concerto] is actually very delicate, detailed, and in harmony with the ensemble . . . It’s not just a cool percussion piece, it’s a cool piece with a feature of percussion.” The audience on Saturday night responded with an immediate and enthusiastic reaction, as one concert-goer exclaimed afterwards, “It blew my mind!”