Youth symphony has 'Blast!' with its guest conductor
Can a youth symphony grounded in classical literature find harmony with a guest conductor coming from a drum and bugle corps background?
Members of the Metropolis Youth Symphony, based in Arlington Heights, explored that concept on Sunday when Wes Bullock, artistic supervisor of "Blast: An Explosive Musical Celebration," worked with them at rehearsal.
The orchestra is preparing for its anniversary concert at 7 p.m. April 5 at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St. in Arlington Heights.
Tickets are $15 or $10 for seniors and students.
"Blast!" is the musical that took Broadway by storm in 2001, with its mix of visual showmanship, theatrics and brass and percussion instruments commonly found in a drum and bugle corps.
The show won a Tony Award in 2001 for "best special theatrical event," and its originators launched "Blast II: Shockwave" in 2002, and most recently have toured internationally with "MIX: Music in Xtreme."
Bullock is accustomed to working with youth ensembles. He has a music education degree from Indiana University and, while touring in Japan, recently worked with a young orchestra there to improve their technique and add a visual component to their performance.
"I'm really trying to explore the whole notion of performance," Bullock says.
One of his conducting teachers, Henry Leck, once proclaimed that 70 percent of what the audience hears is what they see. Consequently, Bullock wants to drive up the visuals, no matter how serious the music.
At their rehearsal Sunday, the nearly 50 members of the Metropolis Youth Symphony worked with Bullock, and their conductor, Javier Mendoza, on a difficult medley from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story."
In it, they play everything from the more lyrical "Maria" and "One Hand One Heart," to the faster paced "I Feel Pretty" and "America," with its Latin beat.
Right from the top, Bullock started tapping his toes and asked the young players to find the pulse of the music.
"Make it dance," he says.
He then worked with the only percussion player on hand that day, Nathan Cornwell of Palatine, to help him pace the orchestra and play off beat, which was hard.
"It's all in the way you approach the music," Bullock said. "We would only add some theatrics if it's appropriate, but I'm excited to work with this group."
The young musicians are junior high through high school and come from Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Elk Grove Village, Palatine, Vernon Hills, Wheeling, Prospect Heights, Barrington, Lake Zurich, Glenview, Schaumburg, Lombard, Park Ridge and Kildeer.
The orchestra is one of several performance groups sponsored by Metropolis' School of the Performing Arts.
Mendoza said he hopes to be able to add everything from clapping to finger snapping in the West Side Story suite, all in an effort to make their performance sing.
Since taking over the orchestra he has brought in a guest conductor to lead them every spring, both to challenge them and open them to new methods and ideas of performance.
"I'm interested in bringing a visual component to their performance," Mendoza says, "while exposing them to artistic excellence."
For tickets, call the box office at (847) 577-2121 or visit www.metropolisarts.com.