By Charminae George
In a 12-day trip across the ocean to the other side of the world, musicians with the Antigua and Barbuda Youth Symphony Orchestra (ABYSO) had the grand opportunity to play alongside three esteemed orchestras in the United Kingdom and Jersey.
From London to Oxford then to Jersey, the 41 musicians from ABYSO shared a stage with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Brent Youth Pop Concert Orchestra and the Jersey Symphony Orchestra over the course of the trip which lasted from October 10 to 19.
“The best part of this musical experience was getting to perform with different orchestras, learning more about music, different types of music, getting to know other people and just learning about the country itself,” viola player Alena Armstrong told Observer.
Alycia Alia, who plays the cello, shared a similar sentiment.
“It was an amazing experience. You get to work with people you haven’t met before and you understand how music can help with social skills,” she explained.
Due to the challenges in shipping huge instruments like a double bass overseas, there was some difficulty adjusting to borrowed instruments, said Nakiya de Freitas, a double bass tutor and junior conductor with ABYSO.
“We mainly had to borrow some instruments while there and for me it was a little bit hard adjusting because each double bass I had to interact with was a little bit different,” she said.
De Freitas mentioned a common misconception of her low-pitched instrument, which is the idea it can’t be used to do solos.
“It has the range to get really low and it also can get really high once you learn thumb positions,” she stated.
Armstrong too, spoke of a common misconception of her instrument, specifically the diminishing of its importance.
“People are always saying that we play the most boring part in the orchestra…even though our parts are boring, it’s essential to the orchestra because it brings out the main melody,” she said.
A double bass, also known as a contrabass, is the largest and lowest pitched bowed stringed instrument in a classical orchestra and is a member of the violin family.
A full-sized bass measures at approximately six feet, while a cello measures around five feet.
A viola, which is slightly bigger than a violin, has a body length of between 15.5 and 16.5 inches (for adults) while a violin has a length between 13 and 14 inches, according to BBC’s classicalmusic.com.
ABYSO is a non-profit music programme which aims to provide quality, fun and accessible music education along with instruments to local youth, according to the orchestra’s Facebook page.