Testimonials About Yorchestra

This is just a small selection of the enthusiastic feedback we regularly receive about Yorchestra from parents, players and staff.

I would like to thank you and all of the Yorchestra community for another fabulous Yorchestra 4 day course. I am always so surprised and delighted by the transition from nervous, shy child to confident performer, in just a few hours.

I have been trying to persuade my daughter to join an orchestra for years with no success and she was on the verge of packing in altogether. However, she has enjoyed every minute of the course and is now really excited about playing. In fact she has even asked to join music centre. I am just delighted and really wanted to pass on a big thank you to all involved for providing such an amazing opportunity for the youngsters in York.

The course was impeccably organised: the schedule was demanding on players, but they rose to the challenge wonderfully, and the support given by the tutors invaluable. It was inspirational to see the members of the orchestra rise to the challenges posed by the repertoire with enthusiasm and wonderful musicianship, and the improvements made over four days staggering. It was an absolute pleasure to be involved with Yorchestra, and the end results were a credit to the performers, their families, the parent volunteers, the tutors and the wonderful behind-the-scenes organisers, without whom this couldn’t have happened.

I love Yorchestra; it was my first orchestral experience and I strongly believe that I wouldn’t be part of National Youth Orchestra, City of Leeds Youth Orchestra and various other organisations if I hadn’t taken part back when I was 11 years old.

Just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to you and the team for your immensely hard work for the 25th Anniversary concert yesterday. The result was an amazing, slick and well-organised event with such a buzz and so many happy children!! I was quite tearful when I saw 200 pupils all playing together! Quite an achievement and so impressive!

It is such a thrill to experience, in the present climate of declining practical music education in schools, that in York the opposite seems to be happening, and in fact, going by the numbers attending the course, is on the increase. The presence of a high quality orchestral course in holiday times with very reasonable fees, is a huge bonus for the area. It is my passion to pass onto young musicians the joy, pleasure, anguish, excitement and life experiences that I have enjoyed over the years. And such a thrill to see so many parents supporting these life-changing opportunities that are available to their children.

Well done to all involved with the 25th Anniversary concert. Yorchestra has always been one of the best run organisations I have ever worked for, and the goodwill invested reaped its reward on Saturday night with the experience everyone involved was able to give to the young and not so young people. They will remember that experience for a long time. Proud to be part of it!

I was just stunned by last night’s concert. To think those kids walked in on Wednesday morning with just their talent and interest and to see the level of performance and musicianship on Saturday evening was truly moving. Please extend my thanks and congratulations to all those involved in the course and concert. It was SO impressive.

L really enjoyed the course and gained a lot from it. He and I were both amazed at how much music was put in and creating the performance to such a high standard. He spoke highly of the staff and was very lucky to have his own personal harp tutor on the Thursday!! for which he felt very special.

What a wonderful event to hold during the holidays for the budding musicians!! It is also great to see such varied instruments as a lot of schools only offer brass and woodwind bands.

This is the third time I and S (violins) have been to Yorchestra and they love it – lovely for them to be among likeminded children especially when our primary school does not offer a string group/orchestra etc. Wonderful to see them making new friends that they are pleased to meet up with each holiday. When the girls first went to Yorchestra they were overwhelmed – S said to me it was like playing with a backing track! So a real experience for them that they wouldn’t get from school.

I and S have got a lot out of it and were delighted to be promoted to 1st violins this time around. Particular thanks to the violin tutor S – young, enthusiastic, inspiring, encouraging ………..a real inspiration so please pass on our particular thanks to her. She looked after our girls marvellously and I hope she will be at the Summer course.

I thought I’d let you know how much my son enjoyed his first Yorchestra experience on Saturday. He wasn’t sure if he was going to enjoy it, particularly as he didn’t know who else might be there, but of course found some friends were there and his comment about the brass tutor, was that he was just the nicest person in the world! Thank you to you all and to the brass tutor, especially, for making it such an enjoyable day. O now definitely wants to do other Yorchestra courses and his younger brother does too, so mission well accomplished, I’d say!

Just to let you know that R thought that Yorchestra was ‘epic’ (apparently the highest accolade an 8 year old can give)!

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all involved in this evening’s concert (and course) at the university. It really was amazing what they can achieve in just 3 days. I have been trying to persuade my daughter to join an orchestra for years with no success and she was on the verge of packing in altogether. However, she has enjoyed every minute of the course and is now really excited about playing. In fact she has even asked to join music centre. I am just delighted and really wanted to pass on a big thank you to all involved for providing such an amazing opportunity for the youngsters in York. The staff were great fun and she really could not believe how good it sounded. It has certainly ignited a passion for which I am extremely grateful.

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed being part of the course. I thought it was an excellent few days and there was a good feeling throughout, both within the staff as well as from the students. It was very heartening to have a group of young and enthusiastic musicians who wanted to learn and progress and very rewarding when the result of their positive attitudes and hard work are so clear.

The course brought back many memories of when I was at this stage and feeling excited to be around and learning from experienced musicians. It was a good feeling to be on the other side and be able to pass on some of my experience alongside the other excellent tutors.

A resounding success. The concert at the end of four days of intensive music was a reflection of the huge input of tutors and students, delivered with finesse, a light touch and humour. Amazing!

Thank you very much for encouraging J & L to take part in the recent Yorchestra course. They both agree that the repertoire for Yorchestra 1 was both enjoyable yet challenging and the conductor’s charisma really motivated the players. They thought the sectional rehearsals were very effective in enabling tutors to spend time with a small group of players and made a significant difference to the quality of the playing of the orchestra when they came back together as a whole. J & L found that the structure of the day was well suited to the players of this age i.e. frequent breaks and a variety of groupings. It was definitely a worthwhile experience for them.

We would just like to express our thanks for the excellent course our son, J, has attended this week. This was his first experience of Yorchestra and he came along not knowing anyone and only ever having played in a strings orchestra previously. It was a pleasure watching him become more and more enthusiastic as the week progressed as he made friends and became more confident within Y2.

We thought the concert last night was amazing for so many reasons, the obvious fun the young people were having, the enthusiasm of everyone involved and the wonderful music of course. J has nothing but praise for all the tutors, for their kindness and direction. He has learnt so much from this week and his first words to us upon leaving the concert hall last night were ‘Can I come back at Christmas please?’ Thank you all for giving your time to make weeks like this possible and see you after Christmas!