Celebrating 20 years of our much-loved conductor Tim Redmond, read our Q&A to find out about Tim's highlights working under the baton of the West of England Youth Orchestra.
When/Why/How did you start working with WEYO?
I first started working with WEYO more than 20 years ago when it was still the Wiltshire and Swindon Youth Orchestra. Valerie Hayward, then the Head of Wiltshire Music Service, invited me to conduct a course because we’d previously worked together with the Cheshire Youth Orchestra. What started as a one-off concert became a very long-running partnership!
What have been some highlights of your time with the youth orchestra? Any particular performances or guest artists?
There have been countless highlights over the years, and without a doubt, the opportunity for WEYO players to perform with superstar soloists is pretty extraordinary: performing the Walton Cello Concerto with Natalie Clein under the stars on the island of Ischia, just a stone’s throw from the room where Walton had composed the piece will stay in my mind for ever; Harry Apps singing Bring Him Home with the orchestra in a town square in France, just before he joined the cast of Les Misérables in the West End, was similarly spinetingling. But so too are the countless performances we’ve given at the Wiltshire Music Centre – playing your first Mahler 1, Shostakovich 5 or Dvorak 9 is something you’ll never forget and it’s been a privilege to introduce so much great music to so many young musicians.
What’s the difference between conducting youth orchestras and adult orchestras? How much do you need to change your approach when working with each one?
Of course there are some differences in what and how you need to rehearse with a youth orchestra compared to a professional orchestra, but actually the end goal is the same – to perform to the highest possible standard in the time you have available. Part of the experience of being in WEYO is that we work in as professional a way as we can – 6 hours of rehearsal a day is intense! – and so I would say there are more similarities than differences.
Why is it important to encourage youth orchestras and what are the benefits of taking part?
Being an orchestral musician is to be part of the ultimate team: capable of listening to the finest detail and playing on the edge of silence one minute before producing a sound that will overwhelm a packed auditorium the next. The social, leadership, and communication skills that you learn as a member of an orchestra are profound. But so too is the chance to play music that connects you to 400 years of history, to tread in the footsteps of some of the greatest humans ever to have lived and to form friendships that will last your entire lifetime. Youth orchestras are where young musicians find themselves, where we discover a way of communicating that requires no words, and where a primary school student can sit next to an undergraduate on an equal footing, united simply through their abilities as a musician.
What’s special about WEYO? Why should people support them?
When I was growing up, the UK was blessed with numerous world-class youth orchestras. Over the past 30 years, there has been a slow but inexorable erosion of the music provision in this country and we are left with vanishingly few youth orchestras which can play at the highest level. WEYO is one of them. Thanks to the foresight and generosity of the Wiltshire Music Centre whose support rescued the youth orchestra from the fate of so many county youth orchestras, young musicians from Wiltshire and beyond have the chance to experience the life-changing thrill of playing in a truly superb ensemble. During my time conducting WEYO I have met numerous ex-members working in the music profession – from soloists at the Vienna State Opera to orchestral managers in Manchester, from workshop leaders in the US to session musicians at Abbey Road; I have met many more for whom music remains a passion and inspiration as the best hobby you could have. But everyone I encounter says the same: that being a member of WEYO counts as a highlight of their formative years. And long may that continue.
20 for 20 - Raising money for our youth orchestras
To celebrate 20 years of leadership of youth ensembles from Tim Redmond and Mike Daniels, give £20 for 20 to keep youth music education alive in Wiltshire.
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