National Youth Orchestra of Nigeria performs in Lagos

With the support from the Alliance Francaise and its director Charles Courdent, the National Youth Orchestra of Nigeria gave an energetic and melodious performance. Before their performance, Germany guest conductor Michael Volhardt first introduced the orchestra to the audience. The young members, aged between 10 and 21 years, came from Lagos and other surrounding towns to rehearse ahead of the final performance.

Half the members of the group never played in an orchestra and those who play came from different church ensembles. The challenge was to learn how to play the same dynamics and the same volume altogether. But the result was touching and the passion for music by these young musicians was reflected in their amazing performance.

Some soloists also displayed their talent by performing arrangements by such distinguished composers as Gabriel Faure, Franz Schubert, Johann Christian Bach and Vittorio Monti on the violin, bassoon, clarinet, flute and piano.

The concert ended with the dynamic piece ‘Farandole’ composed by French composer Georges Bizet. Although the sound was wonderful and made everyone feel part of the music, the orchestra itself requires financial support to buy more instruments. The cellos, for example, have holes and need repairs or have to be replaced.