Connections Archive

Braden Blyde
Connections arts writer

At the age of 17, Joshua Feldman has the world at his highly trained fingertips. The acclaimed pianist joined other talented young adults from the New York Metropolitan Youth Orchestra (MYO) to perform a free concert in the Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church on July 14.

It is the first time the orchestra has travelled so far from New York, but support from the college's Faculty of Arts helped them feel at home. "We are very happy to be in this part of the world," said director John McNuer.

The MYO set the mood for the concert with Mozart's stately The impresario, followed by Copland's North American-summer inspired "Down a country lane" before Feldman took to the stage. A hush came over the audience as Feldman's fingers fell to the ivory of the church's grand piano, performing the first movement of Grieg's Piano concerto.

Feldman began studies with his mother at age two. At age five, he joined the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division as its youngest student and has received the honorary scholarship every year since. He made his concert debut at age six and is a two-time winner of the Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition. The Davidson Institute for Talent Development has honoured Feldman by naming him a Davidson Young Scholar and a Davidson Fellow Laureate. The high school student will attend Yale University this year on a Disney scholarship.

During the hour-long concert, the MYO also presented selections from Grainger, Dvor?k and Strauss's "Radetzky march," during which McNuer encouraged members of the audience to clap along.

Avondale music lecturer Sharon Tolhurst thanked McNuer and the orchestra, saying, "One of the great things about being involved in music is that it connects you, wherever you are from." The statement is symbolic of Avondale's commitment to cultural excellence. The visit in May of the Georgia Tech Concert Band and visits in August and September by a cappella quartet The Idea of North and bestselling Christian author Philip Yancey are evidence of this commitment.

Dr Howard Fisher, dean of the Faculty of Arts, performed a recorder recital of Baston's Concerto no 2 in C major as a "gift" to McNuer and the orchestra. David Clark, a former senior music lecturer, also performed a mesmerising rendition of Young's Toccata. The modern organ piece drifted from dreamy to stormy, impressing members of the audience and the orchestra.