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Youth Orchestras Give Astonishing Performances
Joshua Kosman, Chronicle Music Critic
Tuesday, January 17, 2012


It was like a musical cage-match rumble, but with an O. Henry twist. Six young orchestras came into Davies Symphony Hall on Sunday afternoon, and they all emerged not only alive but victorious.
The occasion was the Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival, a gathering of local ensembles to show off their stuff and raise money for homeless youth .... The cumulative effect of the afternoon was little short of astonishing. It's one thing to encounter a single instance of young musicians playing the standard classical repertoire with spirit and skill - and quite another to watch as they troop past by the dozens and even hundreds before your eyes and ears, each orchestra as vital and committed as the one before.
If the future of classical music is shaky, someone forgot to alert these kids or their mentors.

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