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The rhythmic thumping of the timpani slowly builds as a section of musicians raise their bows and gently drag them across the strings. It may be just a rehearsal, but the players in this orchestra in regional Queensland take it as seriously as a performance. These are not professional musicians or seasoned performers — they are students aged from 10 to 23 who make up one of the longest-running regional youth orchestras in the country. Robert Rotar has been the conductor of the Bundaberg Youth Orchestra for more than three decades.(ABC Wide Bay: Nikki Sorbello) Bundaberg Youth Orchestra (BYO) conductor Robert Rotar has spent more than three decades inspiring and instructing the young musicians who come through the door. "To become a professional musician takes a lot of work and a lot of dedication," he says. "Often I say to the students, 'If you want to do music you'll have a lovely life — you might not make a lot of money, but it's music.' "Music is such a rewarding thing to do." The BYO was established in 1972.(ABC Wide Bay: Nikki Sorbello) Bundaberg is known for growing some of Queensland's best fruit and vegetables, but the 52-year-old orchestra continues to produce a quality crop of professional orchestral musicians. Loading... Ashley Carter is the associate principal trombone in the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and earned his stripes at a young age in BYO. "Being a young student, that was invaluable to have a youth orchestra like that available for me to play in every week," he says. "It gives you a grounding, it gives you the opportunity to play in a high-level ensemble, it gives you the opportunity to start learning the repertoire. "And it gives you the opportunity to make friends and collaborate with other musicians of your age, so you're developing those skills from such a very, very young age." Mr Carter had wanted to follow in his grandfather's musical footsteps, as a musician in a military band. Viola player Gracee Grolimund says having a place in the BYO is a blessing.(ABC Wide Bay: Nikki Sorbello) As he watched other members of BYO become successful musicians, including Liam O'Malley and Alex Morris, he was inspired to work and study overseas. "I went over there with an expectation that it was going to be different, but even in Germany and America, there are similarities amongst sound," he said. "As long as the sound is pure, the sound is golden and resonant, it doesn't really matter where you study, as long as you can produce your best sound." The Bundaberg Youth Orchestra offers students a different dynamic to school programs and each member has to audition for their chair. "It's an opportunity to get all the different kids together," Mr Rotar said. "I think they feed off each other and get the best out of each other in that situation. "You can expose them to other sorts of music, and I think that helps them a lot when they go on to university, because not everyone has that opportunity, from a regional area, to do that. "That is one of the things that they come back and say, is we gave them some skills that a lot of people don't have, that hadn't developed in some other areas." BYO students are taught that becoming a professional musician takes a lot of work and dedication.(ABC Wide Bay: Nikki Sorbello) Part of the program's success has come from former members returning to teach or mentor students. "You want to make students who are better than you," Mr Rotar said. "A lot of the players who I've personally taught and seen in the orchestra, in some ways they're far better musicians than what I am. "But I've had probably more experience, so I can pass on a few ideas to them. "You want to develop them into as best a musician as they want to be." Cellist Sophie Elder would like to pursue a career as a music teacher.(ABC Wide Bay: Nikki Sorbello) It's the fundamentals that Mr Rotar works to impress on young players. Sophie Elder has played with BYO for five years and say her sight-reading skills have improved, which has driven her to practise the cello even more. "I think my favourite music period is classical," she says. "I think that's the style I'm best at." Gracee Grolimund says music is the "universal language of mankind".(ABC Wide Bay: Nikki Sorbello) Gracee Grolimund, 20, has been playing viola with BYO for more than 10 years. Despite the music teacher and nursing student only having a few years left to play with the youth orchestra, music is something she says will always be with her. "It's really blessed me, honestly," Ms Grolimund said. "It's incredible how it's the universal language of mankind. "Everyone, no matter if we're here in Australia or over in Europe, we can look at the same piece of music and exactly know the exact same notes. "It's the only language that everyone completely understands, which is really beautiful." Get our local newsletter, delivered free each ThursdayPick of the crop
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