WEYO / WYJO Tour to the South of France

Bon Voyage WEYO and WYJO!

As part of Wiltshire Music Centre’s 20th Anniversary we are delighted to be taking West of England Youth Orchestra and Wiltshire Youth Jazz Orchestra on tour to the South of France! We aim to give eighty talented, local, young musicians the experience of a lifetime, we will be travelling 900 miles and performing six concerts in stunning venues.

It is important to us that all talented, young musicians who want to be part of this amazing opportunity are able to participate. To make this possible we are raising £15,000 to keep the young people’s fees for the summer course and tour as low as possible.

The Summer Tour will see both orchestras perform separately and together, they will be performing at venues such as Collegiale Notre Dame Des Anges, Abbaye de Frigolet and Place de l’Archeveche.

We have been speaking to some of the members of the orchestras to hear about why they enjoy being part of WEYO or WYJO:

‘I love the new music that we discover and then through such a short space of time going from playing quite disjointedly to performing together in such an amazing concert!’ Laurel, Clarinet
‘Making friends who naturally have the same passion for music that you do. Working with the professional soloists and seeing them perform’ Maia, Violin
‘To be surrounded by more musical people that were like-minded. I enjoy having soloists coming to perform with us and it’s really interesting to hear their stories. I have more of an appreciation for a variety of music.’ Felicity, Flute

We have also been discussing what the performers are looking forward to about the summer tour:

‘It is such a special opportunity, especially as its nearing my final year/s of the orchestra, to be able to perform in new venues and bring our interpretation of the music, with Tim, to other audiences!’ Laurel, Clarinet
'I love performing. It’s an opportunity to explore a new place, see beautiful venues, become a better performer and a better all round musician.’ Maia, Violin
‘It will be amazing to perform in such amazing venues. I feel like it puts the orchestra on a whole new level to have such an amazing opportunity to be part of. It’s going to be so much fun to spend more time with all my WEYO friends that I only get to see a few times a year. It will be interesting to see how much we have to differ our playing style to adapt to the location we are in eg. playing outdoors or in a really echo-y cathedral.’ Felicity, Flute

To make this project happen we need your help to reach our goal of £15,000. If you are able to support us please download and complete the card attached below and return to Kathryn Graff, Wiltshire Music Centre, Ashley Road, Bradford on Avon, BA15 1DZ.

Alternatively, to donate by cheque, please enclose a cheque made to: Wiltshire Music Centre Trust Ltd. and send to the address above.

If you would like to find out more about the project please contact Kathryn on 01225 860110 or kathryn.graff@wiltshiremusic.org.uk