Please enable JS

Summer Tour 2024 - European Union Youth Orchestra

This year, I had the honour of being selected as a member of the 2024 European Union Youth Orchestra. Among several other wonderful opportunities throughout the year, being part of this orchestra included a particularly busy summer; six weeks of touring in six different countries, alongside more than a hundred other talented young musicians hailing from all 27 EU member states. The passion, energy, and intense emotions that I experienced within this orchestra were unparalleled by anything I've ever encountered before.

This summer tour was a journey of significant growth in various aspects. Over the course of six weeks, we had the honour of collaborating with some of the most esteemed musical minds of our generation, working under the batons of two distinguished conductors, Iván Fischer and Gianandrea Noseda, on two separate programmes. We also had the pleasure of sharing the stage with two internationally acclaimed soloists in each programme: pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason and cellist Nicolas Alstaedt. Spending six weeks living out of a suitcase alongside the finest young musicians from each EU member state fostered growth in its own way - immersing ourselves in different cultures, exchanging countless stories, and devoting ourselves entirely to the music with immense passion on every stage we had the privilege of performing on. After three weeks of rehearsals in Grafenegg, Austria, the home of the EUYO, and a chamber music project in Vienna, we embarked on our tour, starting in New York at the prestigious Carnegie Hall. We participated in the 'WOW!' - World Orchestra Week festival, alongside six other youth orchestras from across the globe, including the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, the Beijing Youth Orchestra, the Africa United Youth Orchestra, the National Children's Symphony of Venezuela, the NYO2 and the Afghan Youth Orchestra. One of the highlights was the 'Big Play-In', where over 700 musicians from all participating orchestras joined forces in an enormous room to play three pieces led by the renowned conductor, Gustavo Dudamel. The collective tuning of instruments of over 700 people was a spectacle in itself, but the true magic lay in the unity of such a diverse group of people hailing from all corners of the world, creating an unforgettable harmony. Over the following weeks, we performed two concerts in Bolzano, Italy, participated at the Lucerne Festival at the Culture and Congress Centre in Switzerland, and played at the historic Usher Hall in Edinburgh. During the annual Edinburgh International Festival, under the direction of acclaimed violinist, Nicola Benedetti, we received a spontaneous invitation to perform some short pieces of our choice during an 'Up-Late' session. This session, themed around folk music, featured some of the world's most celebrated folk ensembles. Adamant to contribute and with just a few hours to prepare, we managed to form a string quartet and squeezed in some practice sessions for some folk tunes amidst our busy schedules. I was particularly pleased to incorporate some traditional Maltese folk music in our brief 10-minute set. Our performance was highly praised by the audience and by Nicola Benedetti, who I had the pleasure of conversing with after the performance.

Our final two concerts took place back in Grafenegg, during which I was also involved in a chamber music project, and at the magnificent Berlin Konzerthaus, the latter being among the most emotional performances of my life. After six weeks of living together, the whole orchestra had become like a large family, and the prospect of playing our final notes together was deeply moving. The concluding movement of Richard Strauss' Don Quixote and Elgar's 'Nimrod' from the Enigma Variations, played as an encore, all contributed to the tears shed on stage. Nevertheless, we ended the concert with the EUYO's signature (second) encore, 'Amparito Roca', an energetic and vibrant Spanish piece that had us dancing on stage and among the audience, engaging with the audience and ending the night with shared embraces.

Maestro Noseda emphasised in one of his pre-performance speeches, that the opportunity to perform and share music with such an extraordinary orchestra in all of these magnificent halls is indeed a precious gift. I am eternally thankful and honoured to have experienced such a unique gift which possesses the ability to unite us all together, and which is a true embodiment of our fundamental values.