Ken Macleod reacted with a mix of excitement and surprise when he learned the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (NBYO) had earned a one-way ticket to the legendary Carnegie Hall in New York City.
“We got this amazing email,” recalled Macleod, the orchestra’s president and CEO, in a phone interview Thursday.
“‘Mr. Macleod, we came across your orchestra’s video, we thought it was brilliant … and the next sentence was Music Celebrations International would like to formally invite the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra to perform on the main stage of Carnegie Hall.’”
Macleod said the invitation came after a viral video made by NBYO members in April, clapping back at an Infiniti car commercial which mocked young musicians. The Viennese Masters Orchestra Invitational only accepts four auditioned orchestras each year.
The viral video, which has more than 109,000 views, acted as the NBYO’s audition.
Macleod said the original car advertisement presented an old stereotype of youth and bad music. With more than 1,000 youth involved in the orchestra’s several ensembles, he said their experience is far from a stereotype.
“We just felt we had to, in a sense, wave the flag, and trumpet our young musicians, their talent, performance and excellence,” said Macleod. “So, the fact that this invitation came as a result of that video is really pretty wonderful.”
Once the orchestra gets to the Big Apple in June 2023, they will perform the works of Viennese composers such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. They will also take part in workshops with the New York Philharmonic and tours of the city.
Macleod said he’s grateful for the opportunity to bring New Brunswick youth to a world stage.
“One of the benefits of an offer like this is it really will inspire our kids to achieve even higher levels of performance,” he said. “I think everyone is going to be very motivated to do our very best.”
Macleod said the orchestra wants to host a local performance of its Carnegie Hall repertoire, and then there’s even discussion of including selections on an album.
“The musicians of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra are really ambassadors on the world stage for our province, so it’s both humbling and also an incredibly NB proud moment,” said Macleod.
“One of the things that we said in our video was that our kids can shine on any stage anywhere, and look at what’s happened – an invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall.”
