A 22-year-old bass trombonist from Red Deer is one of 91 young classical musicians touring as part of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada this summer.
Malena Lorenson, who was a member of the band program at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School and the Red Deer Royals, is part of the orchestra's 65th anniversary tour, with stops in Ottawa, Toronto and Kingston in Ontario, and Vancouver, Nanaimo, and Victoria in British Columbia.
Lorenson just completed her Bachelor of Music Performance at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and has been accepted into a program in Switzerland where she will focus on performing as a soloist in front of orchestras or smaller groups of musicians.
She has already done some solo work and will perform with the Red Deer Symphony as a soloist in October.
"I still want to do orchestra playing, but this is what I'm going to try for the next few years. It's a more diverse career," Lorenson said.
Lorenson has performed with several youth and professional orchestras, including the Orchestre symphonique des jeunes de Montréal, National Academy Orchestra, and mentorship programs with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Laval Symphony, and others.
She won first prize in the George Roberts Bass Trombone Competition at the 2024 International Trombone Festival in London, Ont. and received several provincial awards as a soloist in Alberta.
Each year, more than 500 musicians audition for the National Youth Orchestra. The program combines intensive orchestral training, chamber music, recording sessions, and the cross-country concert tour all under the guidance of world-class faculty and guest conductors.
Lorenson said she has had friends take part in youth orchestra and wanted to be part of the program to work with the faculty, and also looks forward to going to British Columbia as part of the tour.
A major highlight of the tour will be the orchestra's featured appearance at Victoria’s Symphony in the Summer Festival, including two Symphony SPLASH! concerts with the Victoria Symphony, Indigenous artists Celeigh Cardinal and Shawnee Kish, and Latin jazz percussionist Sal Ferreras, performed live on a barge in Victoria's Inner Harbour.
Conductor Naomi Woo will lead the orchestra in the tour's repertoire that includes Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, Debussy’s La mer, Ethel Smyth’s Overture to The Wreckers, and a world premiere by Canadian composer Nicholas Denton Protsack.
