His ambition to work in a professional orchestra came one step closer for Johnny Kelly of Victoria Point when he recently attended the national online winter academy with the Australian Romantic and Classical orchestra.
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The two-day Young Mannheim Symphonists event explored fresh perspectives to musical performance and musicology, designed for students aged 11 to 21.
Johnny, 16, is studying violin under Camille Barry and piano under Carly Nisbett at Thornlands. He is home schooled under his mother Dominique, something he said gave him greater scope to practice the daily 210 minutes requred for both instruments.
Johnny said the online presentation allowed for more discussion and he hoped to attend next year's academy to play more.
"The purpose of the academy was to encourage historically informed performance - to learn about the history and the instruments and apply this to how you perform. We looked at instruments from the various centuries. It was very worthwhile and yes, a real eye opener," he said.
The seminars explored 18th and 19th century orchestral repertoire along with discussions around performance psychology and career development.
The seminars were presented by internationally respected experts from Melbourne, Sydney and Thredbo and included a guide to the classical symphony and compared and discussed interpretations on Beethoven Symphony No.1, positive performance skills and 19th Century performance practice.
The seminars also enabled these renowned musicians to share their passion for and expertise in historically-informed performance of classical and romantic music with young emerging musicians.
Johnny is a member of the Queensland and Bayside youth orchestras.
"It was nice to connect with other young musicians in other orchestras," he said.
Part of his home study includes poetry and ancient Latin and Greek, something he said improved vocabulary and offered roots to understanding medical and scientific terms.
