Teen flutist to make debut as soloist with CSO

Matthew Wright almost quit playing the flute within the first week because he was frustrated.

It was a baby sitter that helped the then third-grader play those first notes. With those notes came confidence.

And the Gurnee teen has kept playing.

He now plays with an elite youth orchestra, has won competitions and hopes to pursue a professional musical career, particularly with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The 16-year-old has earned his first chance to perform on their stage next week.

After winning the orchestra's youth competition, Wright will perform as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Tuesday through Thursday at Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

"Everyone wants to have their debut with the CSO or New York (Philharmonic) or big orchestras in the United States. That was one of my goals, to debut with this big orchestra," he said.

Wright decided to play an instrument as a way to interact with other musicians and preferred the flute because it could reach many octave ranges and tone colors.

But, "to play the flute … as a guy" came with teasing, particularly through junior high.

Leaving a Catholic junior high and going to Warren Township High School, he saw a chance to start fresh. He kept his playing quiet and did not join high school band. But people found out.

"All my friends and people who don't know me and find out about it think it's pretty neat. It's more mature now, which is surprising to me," he said.

Outside of school, Wright joined Midwest Young Artists in 2003 and played with the orchestra for three years. He also played at school and church events at St. Gilbert Church in Grayslake. Then in 2005, he joined the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, where he still performs.

When he first started playing, Wright said his focus was playing the notes correctly and playing quickly. He said that focus helped when he started to compete.

"I was a young kid who could play fast with a good tone. People like that," he said.

But his style changed as he got older. Allen Tinkham, orchestra conductor for CYSO, told Wright the musician is the medium in which the composer expresses how he feels.

"You play the music as they would have it, filled with emotion," Wright said. "It's doing something that is completely selfless because you are showing how the composer feels through that piece."

Wright's favorite composers are George Hanson, Aaron Copland and George Gershwin.

"They are trying a bunch of innovative things that a hundred years prior to that would have been thought crazy," he said.

Wright won his first event, the Walgreens National Concerto Competition, in 2003 in the "other instruments" category. He earned the same honor in 2004 and was named overall winner in 2005. He also won the Chicago Flute Club senior division and first at the Union Civic League and Arts Foundation Competition.

He attributes support from parents, good teaching, hard work and loving music.

"A good musician is a combination of talent and hard work. You can go along for a certain period of time with only one, but in the end you need both," he said.

The chance came in 2006 to enter the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Youth Auditions and a chance to perform a solo.

"I saw it as an opportunity. Wow, I can play with the CSO. That would be so much fun," he said.

Wright said he did not prepare differently. He has joined competitions where he must prepare three to four pieces, two memorized. This required him to play one movement of one piece.

"You visualize the performance. You play it over and over again and see what happens, he said.

When Wright's name was chosen the soloist among the six finalists, he said he was awe-struck.

For his solo in the "Youth Concerts: American Masters" series, Wright will perform the "Serenade," featuring flute, harp and strings. Composed by Hanson to show his love to a girl, he said the piece is flowing, smooth and emotional.

"I know that piece in my sleep. I know every aspect of it. I know the shaping. Everything is under my fingers. I feel confident with it. But you are always nervous," he said.

He recalls the knot in his stomach before he gave a solo with the Midwest Young Artists. He wanted to leave.

"Once you are on stage, you are scared. As soon as you start playing, you are fine," he said.

He already awaits his next goal: college auditions. Among the schools he hopes to enter are The Juilliard School in New York City, The Colburn School in Los Angeles, University of Michigan, Cleveland Institute of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

"It's a lot of flying around," he acknowledged.

Wright knows pursing a musical career requires sacrifice. Even after the audition, finding a career is based on chance. But he knows with hard work, it will pay off.

"I have had my doubts. But in the end, you stick with it," he said.