A concert on Saturday, Oct. 28 features 13 young soloists from Mission and Abbotsford accompanied by the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra and the Canada West Chamber Orchestra directed by Calvin Dyck.
The concert takes place at 7 p.m. at Matsqui Centennial Auditorium (32315 South Fraser Way) in Abbotsford.
The soloists were chosen from among 26 contestants at auditions in June, and will be presented by the Abbotsford Music Teachers Association and Central Valley Academy of Music.
The lineup includes Elliot Wakelin, who is just seven years old and will perform Song of the Dark Woods.
Other winners include Anna Krahn and Brooklyn Gerber performing a duet version of the Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms.
More advanced students will perform pieces by Bach, Brahms and Tchaikovsky.
There are several composers who have been commissioned to write orchestrations for the works, including Stan Gubiotti, Paula DeWit, and Clyde Mitchell, conductor of the North Shore Sinfonia.
Mitchell was the inspiration for this project because of similar projects he directed with young soloists in Surrey and North Vancouver which were well-received in those regions.
Most students don’t get a chance to perform with an orchestra until they are semi-professional or studying at a university, but this project will give them a chance to learn the intricacies of working with an orchestra, following a conductor and adapting to working with other musicians.
In addition, the orchestra will be featured in Sinfonia No. 1 by Felix Mendelssohn and the piece by Leroy Anderson called The Typewriter for orchestra and a mechanical Remington typewriter from the 1900s.
Tickets for the event are available online at eventbrite.com or at King’s Music. Visit calvindyck.com for more information.