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YAPCA held its annual summer workshop from August 25-27, 2023 at the Music Building on the campus of Western University. The theme was “Get Back in Shape”, intended to launch kids into readiness for the exciting year of playing ahead. The Young Artists Orchestra kids prepared and performed several several works arranged and conducted by Susan Millar Boldissar with Ingrid Crozman working closely with our wind players. Concurrently Joe Lanza led a chamber ensemble comprised of current and alumnus YAPCA students who rehearsed and performed several works from the Baroque and Classical repertoire. In addition to their work on repertoire, orchestral skills, and technique, the orchestra kids engaged in a spoke word project in music interpretation with expert Vanessa Brown. Finally, the learned the rudiments of conducting with Ben Bolt-Martin.

Stay tuned for next year’s week-long camp July 8 - 12, 2024.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic cut our community’s musical season short in the most unceremonious fashion, our students were undeterred. The remote and socially-distanced YAPCA academy was a success, culminating with a concert in the park. Equally undeterred, YAPCA students successfully auditioned and participated in intensive remotely-held camps such as the Interlochen Arts Camp and SOSI’s Young Artists Program.

In early-March 2020, in the face of a rapidly expanding global pandemic, YAPCA’s program, as with all such communities nationwide suspended its in-person activities for the year. But students adapted and we held Zoom recitals and partcipated in remote group projects.

Overcoming the barriers of distance and technology, YAPCA students were hard at work over the spring, playing with click tracks and assembling their parts into collaborative projects, large and small. Current and former YAPCA students put together a remote collaborative video of “Dona nobis pacem.” The music must go on.

On February 12, 2020, Professor Stéphane Sylvestre conducted a master class at YAPCA. Congratulations to all of the players: Jason and Jennifer Lee, Allyson Zheng, Henry Lee, Lily Richards, Susannah Salamon, and Cynthia Le.

Two of YAPCA’s chamber groups played in a master class led by Caitlyn Boyle. Congratulations to all of the players for their top-notch preparation and to Dr. Caitlyn Boyle from the Isabel String Quartet.

The YAPCA cello ensembles and several solo cello students from YAPCA performed in a master class for Professor Tom Wiebe.

Thank you to all the great playing from the YAPCA cellos and to Prof. Wiebe for his generous insights.

Acclaimed violinist Jerzy Kapłanek of the Penderecki Quartet held a violin master class at the Don Wright Faculty of Music, University of Western Ontario on Saturday, October 19, 2019. Congratulations to the YAPCA students who performed in the class. It was an incredible day of learning and insights.

Thanks also to Lynda Kennedy, our collaborative pianist for the day.

Violinist Tessa Duncan performed the Beethoven Romance in G major for violin and orchestra with the London Community Orchestra as part of its Young Soloists concert. This series features young artists from around the region and is highlight of our musical calendar.

Musicians from YAPCA, led by Joe Lanza and colleagues teamed up with dancers from Dasein Dance to present Vivaldi’s iconic “Four Seasons” reimagined for contemporary dance.

Allyson Z performed the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major with the London Youth Symphony on Sunday, November 25, 2018. Several YAPCA students collaborated with LYS in the performance of the Schubert Symphony No. 3. Congratulations to Allyson and all the YAPCA students on a memorable performance!

Many of our YAPCA students and their families attended the excellent recital given by violinist James Ehnes along with pianist Andrew Armstrong on October 10, 2018 at the Wolf Performance Hall in London. They played a diverse program of Beethoven, Ravel, Brahms, and Corigliano.

On Friday, October 26, 2018, YAPCA students had a fantastic introduction to using the Western Music Library and a tour of its comprehensive collections courtesy of librarians Brian McMillan, Director of the Music Library and Lisa Philpott, Research and Instructional Services Librarian.

During the tutorial, students were able to view first edition scores dating back to the 1700’s from the Drs. Whitby Music Collection. Following an orientation to the layout and organization of the library, students learned how to perform keyword searches to find items of interest in the collections. The morning ended with a scavenger hunt to test their knowledge of the Music Library.

The Music Library is an excellent resource for YAPCA students seeking to expand their musical knowledge.

Anyone seeking to view the Drs. Whitby Music Collection can do so at its section on the Internet Archive.