With a very big day ahead of us, BYSO (Berkshire Youth Symphony Orchestra) members and staff had an early start catching the coaches to take us to the Royal Albert Hall! It became very apparent that some members were not early morning people, with events such as boarding the wrong coaches taking place; however, despite this, all three coaches were soon on their way to the venue and we started to feel a little more relaxed... We even decided to take a little snooze, not realising we would be the cause of some comic entertainment, with photos being taken and placed on Twitter. The relaxation and laughter were soon disturbed when we were halted in a traffic jam and the Reading coaches were separated from the Windsor and Bracknell one.
Dynamics rose on the incline of Jay Mews with the Royal Albert Hall set firmly in our view! Excitement was apparent among the students whilst staff members began to joke about the experience of having to unload many double basses and cellos from the hold. What a sight we must have been, with over 70 students lining the Royal Albert Hall clutching belongings, instruments and music whilst staff did initial checks and were soon leading the way to our dressing rooms.
I (Maddy) rushed off to set up and tune ahead of the up-coming rehearsal while Lauren was in contact with the third coach, which was rapidly catching up ten minutes behind! We were soon laughing at how Lauren became so accustomed to barking orders, even to the CEO of Maestros, which luckily he took in good humour!
After a brilliant rehearsal we all headed off in the direction of the V&A museum for the afternoon before having to return to the Royal Albert Hall in the evening. When we arrived back, the staff quickly ushered the orchestra to get changed and ready which seemed a task in itself with people losing or getting their clothes mixed up with others. Finally, we (BYSO) were ready to perform and all excited about opening the last night of the proms, three of us even got interviewed by classic fm. When everyone was tuned to perfection and ready to go, the musicians set to the stage whilst staff members took to the arena, cameras and iPads ready to film and watch.
Harry Davidson conducted his own piece (Type II) and it was a proud moment for everyone to see one of Maestros students leading the symphony orchestra especially as we could see how much he enjoyed it. There is now a video of this performance on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz7rGJ7nPD8
The evening ended with everyone smiling after a very long day but there was still a rush to be travelling home. After the chaos of getting all parents reunited with their kids and everyone travelling on the coach was seated, adrenaline had soon worn out and the dynamics were a complete contrast to an hour beforehand. Some of the orchestra were even so tired they fell asleep, like Maddy, whilst others were looking at the photos that had been taken throughout the day and laughing about memories that had been made. As we stopped off at all three drops it became more apparent how long the day had become and on arrival at Stoneham people were looking forward to getting home despite having been involved in a fantastic day.
Even now there are still jokes relating to the day and many people are looking forward to performing at the Royal Albert Hall again in March 2014 when Berkshire Maestros along with many primary and secondary schools are going to perform “Carmina Burana” and “Mighty Mississippi”.