The Catholic Church uses signs, symbols, rituals and beauty to attune the mind towards God. Art and music are amongst two wonderful forms of "beauty" that the Church has used throughout the ages for this purpose but among these art forms, music alone has the most potent unique transformative power to align the child's mind towards God as it is immediately accessible. It is hoped that through our endeavours in this youth orchestra, our young members will be inspired to learn more about the faith and hence find a deeper and more meaningful application of the church's teachings and edicts in their lives. To this end, we will learn and perform some of the mass settings and oratorios written by Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Faure, Beethoven and Brahms. We will also learn and perform music that are based on the writings of J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis as these writers were the most influential writers of the Catholic faith in the early 20th century. Some of these music include transcriptions to the movie soundtrack of The Lord of The Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.
The purpose of the orchestra is to allow the youth of our various parishes who play a musical instrument, the chance to seek God through the study and performance of music within an environment that stresses the following:
- Courtesy to everyone including those we dislike.
- Pride for our craft and music making. This means showing self-discipline to practise our parts adequately at home without the prompting of adults.
- Respect for the teacher/conductor, for all elders and especially for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
Our members will also serve the poor by participating in one charity concert that will be held in December.
*Members who will face scheduling conflicts should communicate with the orchestra director at least one week in advance of any rehearsal. Attendance to all concerts is mandatory unless an extenuating circumstance forbids.