International Youth Music Festival
Talented upstarts storm the chamber
BY LAURA
MOJONNIER
Wednesday
August 13, 2008
PREVIEW
How brilliant my high school music career was:
I got to travel around the world to impress international audiences with my mad
piano skills, take master classes with professional musicians, and play and
network with European wünderkinder whose gifts were equivalent to mine.
Oh wait, my high school
music career actually consisted of taking weekly piano lessons from a
65-year-old German woman in a church basement, figuring out ways to make her
believe I had actually practiced that week. But I guess more focused and, er,
gifted students actually do get to join the jet set and showcase their talent
in front of classical music lovers on different continents.
Youth Music International
was formed in 2003 to facilitate a US-UK exchange program for talented
youngsters specializing in chamber music, hoping to provide the adolescent
musicians with superior technical instruction and a unique opportunity for
cultural exchange amongst peers.
The group returns to
So if you can put your jealousy aside, come check these kids out at Grace
Cathedral, an intimate and historic setting, before they're touring with Yo-Yo
Ma and you can't afford the tickets.
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MUSIC FESTIVAL Wed/13,
7:30 p.m., $10–$16. Grace Cathedral, 1100 California, SF. (415) 749-6300, www.gracecathedral.org, www.youthmusicinternational.com