BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
The Australian Youth Orchestra launches the careers of emerging performers, arts administrators, broadcasters, and writers.
This is a statement that I can tell you with absolute certainty. Why? Because I’ve been through the AYO programs myself. And I’m sure Elena Phatak will tell you exactly the same thing. Her own experiences with the AYO opened the door to her future career – now she works as Artistic and Executive Manager of the entire thing.
Who better to give us an insider perspective about what AYO can do for you and your career?
Elena grew up in Perth, and in 2010 she jumped on the AYO bandwagon “as an opportunity to get to know the wider musical community, to make music in cities I had never been to, and to have the chance to play as much repertoire as I could get my hands on”.
(The same year, her older brother Kiran Phatak applied, too – heard of Arcadia Winds? Well, there you go.)
A violinist, Elena received the opportunity to perform as concertmaster of the AYO’s Bishop Orchestra (2012) and Martin Chamber Orchestra (2013) – along with the West Australian Youth Orchestra and UWA Symphony Orchestra.
After that, she scored gigs performing with the Melbourne, West Australian, and Tasmanian symphony orchestras.
“AYO opened a huge number of doors to experiences I otherwise never would have had,” Elena explains.
“When I started playing in professional ensembles, they were far less intimidating places because I had met many of the musicians on AYO programs previously as either participants or tutors.”
“Having the opportunity to lead the orchestra on a few AYO programs did the world for my confidence and conviction in my own playing. And of course, it made me fall more in love with music – how could I not when I was playing such amazing repertoire with these incredible artists, conductors and peers?”
So how’d she go from all this into a top management position with AYO? Elena does consider herself a performing musician, but she’s since stopped her practice “24/7” so she can instead serve Australia’s classical music community. Now she pursues an equally noble career path in the arts administration field.
“Taking time away from playing in an orchestra has given me the opportunity to explore other areas of music that I am interested in – smaller chamber ensembles, recordings, cross-genre collaborations, Irish fiddle music, and a bit of dabbling on the mandolin and, shamefully, the viola,” Elena says (viola jokes aside, though).
In the past few years, she made the huge decision to embark on this new career path that would instead see her bring opportunity to life – opportunity for other musicians, not just herself.
“I loved music, was passionate about supporting the music scene in Australia, and could put myself in the shoes of the musicians I would be working with.”
First, she started building a new career portfolio off the stage with Musica Viva, Perth International Arts Festival, Canberra International Music Festival, Melbourne Youth Music, and the WA Youth Orchestra and St George’s College.
“During this time I approached AYO to see if I could help out there, as taking part in the programs had been such a formative part of my life as a performing musician and I was keen to give back,” she recalls.
“After a few short periods working in the office and gaining experience, a role opened up in the areas I was particularly interested – and I’m still loving it today.”
Elena says participation in the AYO is a very different experience to those you’ll find in university – as an arts administrator or a performer.
“It isn’t for the purpose of achieving good grades in academic studies, or winning a competition, nor is it yet a way to pay the rent or make ends meet. It is a place where pieces of music are being discovered for the first time, where everyone is there to learn and collaborate, and where the buzz of excitement in rehearsals and concerts is tangible,” she says.
“This is such a genuine way of making music and is a joy to be part of, and I think everyone involved in our programs returns home with an affirmation of why they do what they do.”
With that, we’ll leave you with Elena’s top list of things you will gain from an AYO experience. Applications are now open – get in quick!
- The diversity of experience. If you’re gunning for a career in a professional orchestra, AYO provides high level orchestral training, as well as audition experience, and fellowships with state symphony orchestras. If chamber music is more your thing, we literally have 50 chamber ensembles come together at National Music Camp each year on top of the orchestral program, as well as offering specific training at AYO Chamber Players. If you love music but don’t see yourself playing full time, we also offer courses in sound production, journalism, composition and orchestral management.
- The exceptional musical training. There’s a big focus at AYO on providing the best possible education and training experiences for the participants. The tutors who join each program come from the top orchestras and ensembles in Australia, and the artists and conductors are world-renowned. We also run a professional development series throughout our programs focusing on extra-musical skills such as health and wellbeing, career pathway advice and Q&A sessions. The concerts are held on the same stages frequented by professional Australian ensembles. When you put all of this together, you get some unforgettable performances of an incredibly high standard.
- The huge network. If you ask most musicians in a professional orchestra or institution where they first met their colleagues, I think most of the time you’ll find that it was at AYO. I know people who still play together in chamber ensembles because they met at AYO, or work with each other in an orchestra in Germany, or had a work or performance opportunity come out of something they did or someone they met on a program.
- The life-long community. Once you take part in an AYO program, you become part of an immense, amazing community. And this one’s for life. Musicians who go on to play professionally come back to tutor on AYO programs, some students are supported with scholarships enabling them to continue their musical journey past AYO, a few will be commissioned by AYO to write new works for the orchestra, those who go on to other careers join us as supporters or avid concertgoers, others become music teachers and professors who guide their students through the AYO excerpts each year, and some even join the organisation on a higher level (both our chair and CEO were in AYO in the not-so-distant past!).
Visit the Australian Youth Orchestra website to learn more and choose your pathway, whether it’s sound production, composition, performance, or more.
We teamed up with the Australian Youth Orchestra to bring you this story! Check back in as we interview and celebrate more emerging artists performing in Australia! Have you read our story with Andrey Gugnin, who will perform in the AYO July season?
Images supplied.
