Junior String Ensemble (JSE)

Conductor Chen Yang

 

The Junior String Ensemble (JSE) is the youngest of the Queensland Youth Orchestras but is renowned for the high quality of its performances. In 2013, the ensemble has 76 players aged 8 to 15 years. JSE regularly performs joint concerts with other QYO, youth and school ensembles.

In 2013, JSE is performing in combined concerts with the Western Suburbs String Orchestra, the Moreton Youth String Orchestra, St. Hilda’s School String Ensemble QYO3. Additionally, JSE will tour to Hervey Bay in June 2013.

JSE performs a wide range of repertoire, much of which is skillfully arranged by conductor Chen Yang.

In Term 1 and 2 in 2013, QYO2 performs:

Brahms - Hungarian Dance No.5
Copland - Hoe Down from Rodeo
Dvorak – Slavonic Dance No. 10
Mozart - Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Mussorgsky - Over the Moscow River
Mussorgsky - Hopak from The Fair at Sorochinsk
Puccini - Nessun Dorma from Turandot
Smetana – The Moldau
Von Suppé – Light Cavalry Overture

 

Watch QYO’s Junior String Ensemble play conductor Chen Yang’s arrangement of the Queen of the Night aria from Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute:

 

 

Watch QYO’s Junior String Ensemble play conductor Chen Yang’s arrangement of Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia:

 

 

 

Photos of JSE camp 2013 in Brookfield

JSE camp report by Liam Freisberg, JSE Concertmaster

“On 8 February all the JSE members were bursting with excitement as we united at the QCCC Brookfield campsite. Is it possible to do hours and hours of full-on rehearsals and still have lots of fun? you may ask. Well, the answer is yes, thanks to Chen Yang and his great music, volunteer parents and staff at the QCCC. The highlights for me were making new friends, the pool, games and shoulder rides, plus spending time with great JSE friends. Overall, some of the best days of my life and so very rewarding. Thanks to all that contributed to this great experience.”

JSE camp report by Dianne Shim, JSE Concertmaster

“The 3 day camp was amazing - as it always is. Our fantastic conductor, Chen, and the wonderful tutors, made the tiring hours of rehearsals fun and worth it, and the parent volunteers helped us all in a way that made us feel comfortable and relaxed. The camp bonded everyone together, and we played games like spider-ball and relays which required a lot of teamwork. In our free times, many people swam, played ping pong and volleyball, or just hung out. Overall, the camp (especially the food) was great! I am looking forward to the the tour in June and the rest of the year.”

 

 

Upcoming Concerts

JSE is playing regularly in Concerts at Twilight at the Old Museum Concert Hall, next on Saturday 8 June. Please find all dates here

Saturday 8 June 5.30pm
Concert at Twilight
Old Museum Concert Hall
JSE & Western Suburbs String Orchestra

Concert Program includes Von Suppé’s Light Cavalry Overture, Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance No. 10 and Smetana’s  The Moldau.

 

 

 

 

 

 

JSE repertoire

In 2012, JSE performed:

Georges Bizet, arr. C Yang	Spanish Entracte from Carmen
Wolfgang A Mozart, arr. J Hoffmann	Amadeus from Symphony No.25
Antonio Vivaldi, arr. C Yang	Concerto for Lute in D Major
Leo Delibes, arr. C Yang	Duet from the Opera Lakme
Ruggero Leoncavallo, arr. C Yang	Aria from the Opera Il Pagliacci
Antonio Vivaldi, arr. C Yang	Sinfonia Al Rustica
Antonio Vivaldi, arr. C Yang	Spring
Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. C. Yang	Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
Piotri Ilyich Tschaikovsky, arr. C Yang	Pas De Deux, from the ballet The Nutcracker
Manuel de Falla arr. C Yang	Ritual Fire Dance

 

In 2011, JSE performed:

Johann Sebastian Bach	Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
Arcangelo Corelli	Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 6
Graeme Wright Denniss	Pastor Raoul from Uncommon Denominator
Antonin Dvorak	Song of the Moon from the Opera Rusalka
Alberto Ginastera	Danza Final
Edvard Grieg	Wedding at Troldhaugen
Charles Gounod	Nubian Dance, Ballet Music from the Opera Faust
George F Handel	Hallelujah from the Oratorio The Messiah
Giacomo Puccini	Intermezzo from the opera Manon Lescaut
Piotr Tchaikovsky	Pas de Deux from the ballet The Nutcracker
Richard Wagner	Siegfried’s Funeral Music from the opera Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)

 

In 2010, JSE performed:

Bizet  arr Yang	Habanera from Carmen
Borodin arr. Yang	In the Steppes of Central Asia
de Falla arr. Yang	Ritual Fire Dance
Dvorak arr. Sieving	Symphony No 8 - Allegretto Grazioso
Grieg	In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt Suite
Jarvela	Storm Rider
Mozart arr. Yang	Queen of the Night Aria, from the Magic Flute
Saint-Saens arr. Yang	Danse Macabre
Sharp	Til the Work is Done
Tchaikovsky  arr Yang	Walz from The sleeping beauty
Traditional arr. Del Borgo	The Irish Suite- Irish Washerwoman
Vivaldi  arr Yang	Concerto fro Strings in A major RV 158 (1st mvt.)
Vivaldi  arr Yang	Gloria in Excelsis
Vivaldi arr. Yang	Concerto for String in D Minor
Vivaldi arr. Yang	The Four Seasons: Summer

 

In 2009, JSE performed:

Bach arr Isaac	Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major (Mvt 1)
Bach arr Yang	Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Bernstein arr Mason	West Side Story: Selections for Orchestra
Bill Reddie	Channel One Suite
Borodin	Prince Igor: Polovetsian Dances
Chin	The Bells of Ghengis Khan
Delius arr C Yang	“La Calinda” from the opera Koanga
Dvorak arr Yang	Serenade in D minor
Foster & Shuur	You Can Have It
Gershwin arr Brubaker	An American in Paris
Handel arr Yang	“For Unto Us a Child is Born” from “The Messiah”
Jarvela	Ancient Odyssey
Maslanka	Give Us This Day
Mozart arr. Hoffman	Amadeus
Nolck arr Chin	Flight of the Furies
Puccini arr Yang	Nessun Dorma
Rotar	Tilt Train - World Premiere
Saint-Saens arr Yang	“Danse Bacchanale” from “Samson & Delilah”
Sharp	La Llorona
Strauss	Radetzky March, op. 228
Stravinsky	Selections from “The Firebird”
Tchaikovsky arr Dackow	1812 Overture
Tchaikovsky arr Yang	“Scene” and “Dance of the Cygnets” from Swan Lake
Trad. arr Maddick	The Minstrel Boy
Trad. arr Yang	Irish Air & Reel
Traditional arr. Yang	English Garden Tea Party
Vivaldi arr C Yang	Sinfonia Al Rustica