For 21 summers, the National Orchestral Institute at the university has been redefining passion and dedication by inviting talented college musicians from around the nation to a four-week orchestral summer program.
Founded in 1988 by Donald Reinhold, the NOI originally served as a three-week program devoted to “young, talented players from across the country to have an experience in orchestras,” NOI Artistic Director James Ross said.
According to Ross, the fourth week was added during the 20th summer to give students a chance to become better oriented with the faculty and with playing in large orchestras before they began the program.
The students’ time is devoted to learning orchestral pieces over one week, culminating in a weekend recital. Workshops, special events and lectures are interspersed to give students a variety of experiences.
This year, students had a chance to work with a number of guest conductors and faculty in three major public events. The first, Bold Strokes, was conducted by Ross and featured pieces such as Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 and Claude Debussy’s Fetes.
Out of the hundreds who auditioned, 97 students were chosen for the program. Participants have a chance to work with members of orchestras from around the nation, including the Philadelphia and San Francisco orchestras.
“When you have 600 or 700 people auditioning, the ones who get in … are people who show a certain fluency on their instruments and a certain electricity in their presence,” said Ross, who selected the students for the program.
After the first week’s performances, which feature faculty and students, the remaining three events are almost entirely student performed. Students begin the week never having seen the pieces they are to perform each week. Over the week, through sectional and group rehearsals, students learn the pieces and perform them Saturday night, he said.
The one-week periods are designed to help students see a “bigger transformation” of themselves and their talent with “passionate music-making involved,” Ross said.
Through the performances and the special events, NOI serves to redefine the orchestral movement and its purpose in the future. With guest lectures on the future and relevance of orchestras today, Ross hopes students will not only hone their musical talent but realize their roles in the future of orchestral music.
“One of my main hopes is that people come out of this course seeing that they … can really affect the future of orchestras,” said Ross. “The future is more in their hands than they think.”
The last NOI performance is Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Dekelboum Concert Hall. Andrew Litton conducts the performance, Titan’s Roots, which features works by Gustav Mahler and Robert Schumann.
dnhan5@umd.edu
