One of the most exciting youth orchestras in the world, the National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) will see 16 brilliant young disabled and non-disabled musicians deliver an emotionally charged afternoon performance at Lighthouse Poole on Saturday 10 May.
Creating a musical universe without barriers, NOYO perform beautiful new pieces commissioned for the orchestra’s thrilling mix of acoustic and electronic instruments, including the Clarion accessible instrument.
Here, saxophonist Luke Christian tells us more about this extraordinary orchestra.
Please could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about yourself and where you’re from? What instrument do you play; how did you get involved with NOYO?
Hi, my name’s Luke, I’m 17 and live near Wimborne, and go to college in Weymouth.
I play alto saxophone for the National Open Youth Orchestra. I can also play piano and drums. I’ve been part of NOYO for six years after applying and auditioning back in 2019.
What’s the best thing about making music?
Playing with all the other instruments. Practising with everyone is way better than alone. It gives me the atmosphere I can get used to, because I love how the music comes together and makes an amazing sound around me.
How has music made a difference to your life?
Music is part of my everyday – I love making music. As well as practising all the NOYO pieces, I enjoy making up my own tunes on my keyboard at home. I play in the music groups at school, and I play saxophone and drums with my church band. I even am quite creative with music Note Blocks in the game Minecraft!
I love performing and working towards that. It’s great to get to play in great venues with NOYO and be on stage making music for people to enjoy.
If you had to pick one piece of music to play what would it be and why?
My favourite piece I’m playing at the moment is Behroozi. It’s catchy, joyful and upbeat. I really enjoy playing it, and it’s great for the saxophone!
I also really like Pirates of the Caribbean. I got to play it with a full orchestra thanks to a BSO weekend workshop Symphony from Scratch last year. It was amazing – and I love that music. I played Pirates of the Caribbean on piano for my NOYO audition when I was 11.
What do you hope to do with music in the future?
In the future, I hope to always be part of one or two music ensembles, maybe explore a new instrument, and who knows, maybe some of the tunes I’ve composed can be arranged for those musicians to play. That’d be great!
(NC)
Photo above by Paul Underhill
