Ren performs with orchestra
In Australia, the Civic Youth Orchestra (CYO) poses for a group photo while on a Harbor Cruise. They toured both Australia and New Zealand over 17 days while performing in Cairns, Sydney, Auckland and Rotorua.
Juran Ren (10) kept one eye on his sheet music and another eye on the conductor while he alternated between playing the bass drum, triangle and cymbals. He focused on the conductor’s signals, waiting for his cue to crash the cymbals together. The baton jabbed in Ren’s direction. Ren brought the two cymbals together, right on time to end the piece at Fogarty Park in Cairns, Australia.
Ren, who plays percussion for the Civic Youth Orchestra (CYO) traveled with them to Australia and New Zealand this summer. The CYO played pieces such as Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and the New World Symphony by Dvorak in Sydney, Cairns, Auckland and Rotorua. Ren played percussion for all four performances that made local Australian and New Zealand newspapers.
“The trip gave us the opportunity to perform abroad, experience world culture and meet other Australian Youth Orchestra members,” Ren said. Over the course of their stay, Ren was able to explore the many wonders down-under.
Besides having fun and touring the area, Ren practiced and rehearsed with the orchestra before every performance, making sure that their playing was up to par and that everyone felt comfortable on the different stages so far from home. While in Australia, the CYO sat in the audience for once, enjoying and learning from the Australian Civic Youth Orchestra’s performance in the Sydney Opera House.
After returning home, Ren reminisced about how far he progressed since his first days performing with the CYO.
“I was always apprehensive about performing in front of audiences that could easily range from 100 to 150 people,” Ren said. “Before the performances, I always felt kind of tired and it’s always super-hot on stage.”
He remembers a performance at the Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego.
“I was holding the cymbals and they were really heavy and because I was nervous and sweating a lot, I was really afraid that I might drop them halfway through the piece,” Ren said.
After performing halfway across the world, Ren has definitely overcome his fear of performing for vast audiences, and has even come to enjoy performing.
“Whenever we finish performing and if it goes well, it’s a really satisfying feeling,” he said.