Wednesday, 6 March 2024

Melbourne Youth Orchestras

Gary MAAS (Narre Warren South) (10:03): I rise today to inform the house that five young musicians from Narre Warren South have been accepted into the Melbourne Youth Orchestras program in 2024, and I would like to congratulate Mason Cicciarelli, Robert Danci, Hayley Cheng, Jeffrey Li and Wei Lim. The Melbourne Youth Orchestras is a program that runs on Saturdays. It has 12 large ensembles with different styles, from symphonic music through to jazz as well.

I am a very proud alumnus from Melbourne Youth Orchestras, and I am also a former education department educator there. I understand the hard work and dedication that it takes and the love of music that needs to be recognised to get into MYO. In my time there I remember being with such greats as Ben Northey, who is now the conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; Julien Wilson, who is a world-renowned jazz saxophonist; and Anne Frankenberg, who is CEO of Musica Viva. There are also a plethora of instrumental music teachers throughout the state of Victoria who have been through this program. It is an inclusive organisation, and I am very passionate about the organisation.

I know that Dorian Jones, the chief executive, is still having discussions with the Minister for Education and the Deputy Premier. I look forward to working with Dorian and the team at Melbourne Youth Orchestras.