Spring / Summer 2026 music thread

It's so easy now to get recordings, videos with rolling scores, early access to orchestra parts from imslp etc . I remember having to get CDs from the library and waiting to get actual parts to follow along for youth orchestra preparation.

Chocolate, that sounds mad. My son didn't even start piano until age 14 and yes, he is never going to be a top classical soloist, BUT he loves his music and he is earning a living from it albeit in the realm of musical theatre. And the people he works with, the ones who get hired, are the ones who are used to playing in ensembles.

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity horsey! And that's really interesting about listening - when I explained to DD about extracts the first thing she said was she'll need to listen to see how they work in context. Good instincts or someone at Inspire gave her a hint? I think NCO has trained her well too, first thing she does when she gets the repertoire is make a playlist.

And signing on to the new thread thank you northern.

Also the extracts are just done in the individual audition. They need to know what is happening round about them in the orchestra so have listened to it with the score etc as they will get asked eg what are the strings doing here ( if woodwind player).

@thirdfiddle with regards to NYO extracts, I don't think it relates to what they played as a group at ( but mine was woodwind). Think they played some chamber music in instrument specific groups and maybe some discussions and improvisations but I can't quite remember, I'll have to ask.

Thank you @horseymum!I’ll let DS know. He has been with Chineke! Junior’s summer residential for a couple of years and has really enjoyed it. He’s playing with the LSSO this year, but with him going into year 11 I don’t know if he’s organised enough for all the residential courses and other day commitments! And obviously that’s if he gets past the auditions 😅

@BBLY with regards to NYO and the challenge of revision on the course -We found that for us that Christmas was fine because our school did prelims in December. For the spring course, it just required lots of organisation beforehand so they feel on top of things before going and only taking certain things to study so as not to get overwhelmed or miss out on too much socialising. There are quiet study areas available (they are often at lovely boarding schools with nice libraries!) and there will be plenty of others studying. It's also probably quite healthy to have a bit of a pause for some of the subjects. For Scottish pupils, they went back almost straight into exams ( a matter of days) so it's harder for them but if they are playing at that level they are usually pretty organised.
They are careful about welfare, with warms ups, stretching etc so they are well looked after. There is also a whole day off formal rehearsals in the middle which they can use to get out for local walks or just chilling/ studying, as well as there being optional music activities.

Thanks @northerngoldilocks!