First ever national youth strings festival concert

Youth Orchestras of Namibia (YONA), in partnership with the National Theatre of Namibia (NTN), hosted a national youth strings festival concert on 15 and 16 July in Windhoek.
YONA director Gretel Coetzee said since its launch in 2017, she has dreamt of reaching young people from all over the country to make music together.
YONA has always wanted to reach out to the regions and bring young musicians together, she said. They had four aims - to broaden the horizons of young musicians, to bring unity to the diversity of Namibian society, to improve the standard of string playing in the country and to lay the foundation for an annual event that can develop into a fully-fledged national youth symphony orchestra, also incorporating the woodwinds, brass and percussion sections.
On 11 July, youth from towns and villages across the country such as Tsumeb, Otjikondo and Swakopmund gathered in Windhoek in preparation for the concert. “It was not always easy as they practised for long hours and learnt a lot of new music. They became better at intonation, ensemble playing, rhythm and phrasing,” Coetzee said.
A total of 22 junior orchestras played the violin, while eight played the cello. Thirteen senior orchestras played the violin, eight played the viola and five played the cello.
On the last day of the concert, the first half consisted of beautiful music inspired by the middle ages and renaissance, which could develop the musicians’ bowing techniques and changes in dynamics. The more technically advanced items were only played by the senior orchestra.
Plink Plank Plunk, a fun pizzicato item by Leroy Andersson, was the last item before the interval.
“One of the highlights of the first half of the concert was a solo from a symphony by Haydn, played by cellist Bongani Cloete,” she said.
In the second half, there were folk songs from different countries with choir Vocal Reflections joining the strings on stage. Some Namibian items followed and they ended off with 'We Believe in Namibia' composed by Osmond !Owoseb, arranged for orchestra by conductor Dorothee Mariani.
Mariani, founder of the Orchesterschule Insel in Basel, Switzerland, has a vast knowledge of music in cello and was the conductor and rehearsed with the young people throughout.
“We took on a musical journey from back in time through different countries and eventually arrived in the Land of the Brave,” Mariani said.
Musical items such as ‘Toxoba Mama’, ‘Ondikuhole’ and ‘Moro Moro’ were part of the items on the list.
A lot of networking, planning, fundraising and organising went into the event.
“We sent a call via social media and personal invitations to music teachers and centres countrywide to apply. We sent sheet music so that the students could prepare it in advance and they sent us a video audition so that we could place them in the right sections according to their ability,” Coetzee said.
According to her, the response from the audience and musicians was overwhelming, and they want the event to take place again.
The musicians from the regions were thankful for the opportunity to connect with other musicians and perform at the NTN, she said, adding that she believes the festival has laid the foundation for an annual event.