By Zoe Howard
Features Editor
Junior Audrey Lee has a passion for playing the violin that has led her to earning a spot in the American Youth Symphony (AYS).
AYS is an extremely competitive orchestra comprised of only 100 musicians from all over the world. They typically accept musicians with college or graduate music performance majors, averaging around 23 years old. However, Lee was accepted at just 16 years old.
“It is really an honor to be a part of the American Youth Symphony,” Lee said. “I wasn’t expecting to be accepted, so now I feel very fortunate, and I’m trying to have the best experience I can.”
Lee has played violin for seven years. She first started learning the instrument when her aunt introduced her to a violin teacher that she had previously received lessons from. Ji Young An, a lecturer at the University of California Los Angeles’s Herb Alpert School of Music, has been Lee’s teacher ever since. Lee continues to have lessons with An and is currently a member of the Mira Costa orchestra.
“Having such a high-level and full orchestra in high school is definitely a privilege, so I think my favorite part [of being in the Costa Orchestra] is just all the opportunities that are available to people in [it],” Lee said.
An was aware that Lee was interested in opportunities to play in orchestras outside of school, so An recommended that Lee audition for the AYS.
“I’ve been playing in orchestras with other high schoolers for the past few years now, so I really wanted to know what the next level was like and whether I could even get there,” Lee said. “I knew I’d progress immensely just by learning the audition materials, so I really didn’t see any lack of benefits in auditioning for AYS. It was all about what I could learn from the experience.”
In June, Lee submitted an online application with her information and resume. She then auditioned in late September and had about three months to prepare four excerpts from orchestral pieces and a solo concerto.
“I was extremely nervous [going into the audition],” Lee said. “Walking in, I only saw college students playing incredibly high-level pieces, and I just felt out of my league.”
Lee receives the music about a month in advance before each concert. It is Lee’s responsibility to practice her part and mark in any notes that she will need. She has to be prepared with her part before rehearsals start, Lee said.
“Getting homework done during lunch, nutrition, or free time for classes and rehearsals is also really important since I get home after 11 p.m. on nights with rehearsals, but sometimes I have no choice but to stay up for most of the night to finish homework,” Lee said.
Lee will play in five concerts throughout this school year and in total, there will be 15 concerts for the three years that she’s been invited to play with AYS. The week before every concert, Lee has about four rehearsals and a dress rehearsal on the day of the concert.
“It’s great to be around so many older, more experienced musicians [in AYS],” Lee said. “I have a lot to learn from them in the next three years.”
Lee has had two concerts so far in the AYS. The first one was the opening night concert on Oct. 20 at the University of California, Los Angles’s Royce Hall, which kicked off the 55th season of the orchestra. The next performance was Apollo 13 In Concert on Nov. 23 for the 50th anniversary of the moon walk. The next concert, Sounds About Tow, is Feb. 8 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
“It was an amazing experience to play the entire concert when I would usually only play part of it,” Lee said. “I sit around the middle of the orchestra, so my favorite part was probably getting to hear all of the other musicians around me.”
Lee would like to continue with music whether she participates in AYS when she is in college or in her college’s orchestra.
“I love being able to express myself through my music and the endless volumes of music that there are to be performed,” Lee said. “I love that I’ll always have something to learn.”
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