Children's Violin Orchestra, Hrebienok (source: TASR)
The fifth gathering of young violinists in the Tatras who perform as the International Children’s Violin Orchestra will culminate with a special open-air concert at Skalnaté Pleso on Saturday, July 14. The event’s organiser, Tereza Novotná, informed the TASR newswire that at the venue under the Lomnický Štít peak, a total of 33 talented children and youths from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Russia, Canada, Portugal, Mexico and Hong Kong will perform.
“Every year, since I started organising it with my husband, we try to make their stay interesting not just in terms of music but also offering them experiences to be long remembered,” said Novotná, who leads the orchestra. “In the past, we used to hold concerts in the Belianska Jaskyňa cave or at Hrebienok, but this year, it will again be on Saturday, at 12:00 at Skalnaté Pleso.”
How does the orchestra work?
She picks musical works for the performance that children can connect with and get to like them. Some do not normally play in orchestras, so it is a crucial change for them, and they easily study and rehearse the pieces as members of a team.
“The older and more experienced ones help the younger ones, and there is no language barrier in music,” she noted. “Thus, no prestige can be felt in our orchestra, only the joy of playing music. Apart from the works of Mozart, Bach, Haydn, Vivaldi and Shostakovich, I included more modern composers in the repertory: Piazzola and Cohen,” she told TASR, adding that she tests on her Poprad-based orchestra the compositions the do children like, and then she rehearses them with the international orchestra.
This year, teachers interested in how Novotná works with so many people will attend the gathering at Skalnaté Pleso as well.
Geniuses deserve open-air events
“Nature is the most beautiful music auditorium and the works of great composers like Bach, Vivaldi and Mozart deserve open-air concerts,” commented Novotná, who first played violin for 15 years in the State Theatre Košice and State Slovak Philharmonic Košice. She performs in concerts and leads violin courses – also in Mexico and Italy. She has also travelled almost the whole world with several musical bodies organizations. With her husband, she founded the Husľový Kľúč (i.e. Treble Clef, literally Violin Key in Slovak) civic association to organise the violin gatherings of young musicians from all over the world.
The July 14 concert of the International Children’s Violin Orchestra starts at 12:00 on the terrace of the restaurant at Skalnaté Pleso and admission is free, according to TASR.
