The Bloomington-Normal Youth Symphony [BNYS] is in preparation mode for its spring concert, with a trial run for residents at Westminster Village this week, and a couple more rehearsals ahead of a year-end concert May 2 at the ISU Center for the Performing Arts.
It's the second full year on the podium for Logan Campbell, who directs large ensembles in Illinois Wesleyan University’s School of Music. Campbell succeeds Deanne Bryant, who led the youth symphony for decades.
“I knew that coming in there would be an immediate shift,” Campbell said.
He sought to keep the nurturing, positive environment Bryant fostered over the years, while dramatically shifting rigor and repertoire in the group. Some young musicians seeking a more recreational atmosphere have left, but with new players added, the orchestra has nearly 60 high schoolers enrolled.
“The students that we have gained, and then the students we’ve retained, have been just the cream of the crop,” Campbell said.
BNYS members rehearse once a week. It's a sacrifice for the students, who give up Monday nights, plus concert days, squeezing in homework and other extra-curriculars around the commitment.
For principal cellist Joy Rattan, it’s worth it. Rattan is a senior at Normal West and has committed to majoring in cello performance and music education at Illinois State University this fall.
“It’s a great space to be able to play with the Bloomington-Normal community and people around my age,” said Rattan. “Getting that extra experience outside of school is a really great opportunity.”
“Same with Joy, I’m planning on majoring in violin performance in college,” said Eliana Woodman, a senior at Cornerstone Christian Academy from Bloomington. “BNYS has provided concerto competition opportunities and performance opportunities. It’s provided a really good network in our community.”
Campbell hopes students choose careers in music, knowing that is unlikely in every case.
“They may not even play in college,” he said. “Maybe they won’t play, but maybe they’ll become a massive supporter for the arts.”
For now, Normal West sophomore Gabriel Pabst wants to play. He joined BNYS three years ago.
“I want to be an orchestral bassoonist,” he said, adding at his school, bassoon players only play with the band.
“I like to play with the orchestra and have a constant orchestra I’m always coming back to week by week," he said.
Woodman has played in the youth symphony for four years, sticking with it through the transition from Bryant to Campbell.
“I absolutely love Mrs. Bryant. She’s amazing,” she said. “She’s done so much for the music community in Bloomington-Normal. Mr. Campbell switching over — it’s been different. It’s been good to have both. We’ve had different styles of repertoire come in, which has been a really interesting thing.”
Musicians are selected for the symphony by audition and held to a high standard. If you aren’t willing to give it your all, Campbell told students at a rehearsal earlier this month, then maybe BNYS isn’t for you.
“The real challenge that we find is not as much with their musical ability but with their ability to be as mature in that active music making, to say, 'I’m going to give everything I can, every time I pick up my instrument.'”
New exhibit
Another change: Campbell has looked for chances to increase community engagement. The symphony recently collaborated with Children's Discovery Museum to create a new, interactive exhibit.
At a dress rehearsal for last season’s spring concert, museum staff positioned a GoPro camera on Campbell’s chest, providing a POV experience for museum goers to conduct Offenbach’s Can-Can from Orpheus and the Underworld.
“Not only can they see my hands … they’re looking at musicians from within the Bloomington-Normal Youth Symphony,” Campbell said. “I move around, trying to stay as stable as possible, while they see the violins, then the tympani. They get this vantage point that’s really special.”
Additional videos provide instruction for aspiring maestros to conduct along with Campbell at various tempos and time signatures. An official ribbon cutting for the exhibit will take place after school on May 1, with a BNYS string quartet playing live.
The orchestra's upcoming concert has something for everyone.
Rattan will be on the podium for part of the evening. Woodman’s favorite piece is Maurice Ravel’s 1899 Pavane for a Dead Princess. Pabst is fond of something a little more current: a medley from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.
Campbell wants community members to show up and support the students by attending their concerts.
“It’s great to make music,” he said. “It’s even cooler to share that music. Through our collaborative efforts with other organizations, that’s a way to get our name out there and to show that we are a representation of the community. But audiences members coming to our performances to learn more, or just to see these kids do amazing things is always the best way to publicize our mission.”
Bloomington-Normal Youth Symphony plays at 7 p.m. May 2 at the Center for the Performing Arts at Illinois State University. For more information, visit bnyouthsymphony.org.
