Repertoire highlights: 2020 World Youth Symphony Orchestra
The summer lineup includes works by Dvorak, Higdon, and Mahler, as well as the Midwest premiere of a composition by the winner of a national young composer competition.
JoAnn Falletta leads the 2019 World Youth Symphony Orchestra in a performance.
With Cristian Măcelaru serving as the inaugural Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra (WYSO), we are thrilled to share highlights of the ensemble’s 2020 Interlochen Arts Camp repertoire.
WYSO’s 2020 season will include beloved classical standards, a 21st century masterpiece, and the Midwest premiere of the winning composition from the 2019-20 New York Youth Symphony’s First Music young composer competition.
Selecting repertoire for WYSO is a collaborative process, with insights from Măcelaru, guest conductors, and Interlochen Arts Camp Director of Music Eric Stomberg all taken into consideration.
“Cristi [Măcelaru] and I have been working with our guest conductors to make sure the repertoire has a good blend of compositions, from standard orchestral works to contemporary music,” Stomberg said. “The repertoire represents a broad range of orchestral music while featuring a diverse array of composers and styles.”
Stomberg also hinted that many of Interlochen’s ensembles will feature a tip-of-the-hat to the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth.
Highlights of WYSO’s 2020 repertoire include:
- Beethoven, Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C Major, op. 56
- Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 (“From the New World”)
- Jennifer Higdon, “Fanfare Ritmico”
- Mahler, Symphony No. 1 in D Major (“Titan”)
- Tanner Porter, The Sycamore and the Oak
- Prokofiev, Suite from Romeo and Juliet
- Stravinsky, Suite from The Firebird
- Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Op. 29
Yale student Tanner Porter won the 2019-20 New York Youth Symphony First Music program’s grand prize. Co-commissioned by Interlochen Center for the Arts, NYYS’s First Music program highlights works by America’s best emerging orchestra, chamber music, and jazz composers under the age of 30. As part of her grand prize, Porter will receive several orchestral premieres of her new work, The Sycamore and the Oak, including its Midwest premiere with WYSO during the 2020 Camp season.
The full 2020 WYSO repertoire, as well as the repertoires for all of our summer orchestral and wind ensembles, will be announced at a later date.
Interlochen Arts Camp 2020 will run June 27-Aug. 9, preceded by one-week Institute programs which run June 20-26. The World Youth Symphony Orchestra performs every Sunday evening throughout Camp (July 5, 12, 19, 26, and Aug. 2) under the baton of 2020 Principal Conductor Cristian Măcelaru and guest conductors Christian Reif, Larry Rachleff, JoAnn Falletta, and Gemma New. Jung-Ho Pak will conduct the season’s closing concert—the 93rd annual performance of “Les Préludes”—on Aug. 9.
About the World Youth Symphony Orchestra
The internationally recognized home of the world’s most talented young classical musicians, the World Youth Symphony Orchestra (WYSO) is the founding ensemble of Interlochen Arts Camp. Since 1928, top conductors and guest artists from around the world have joined WYSO to inspire young musicians to perform together at a level they’ve never experienced. Young WYSO musicians have played alongside leading professional artists Wynton Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, and Christine Brewer. To learn more about WYSO and the 2020 Interlochen Arts Camp season, visit camp.interlochen.org.
