Over 800 musicians audition each year to be part of National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO), but only 164 make it into the orchestra and Felsted’s Sana Abu-Jabir (Yr 11) is one of them! 

Auditions are made out of two rounds with the final round auditions being split into two parts. The first part of the audition is performing a couple of solo pieces in front of the NYO audition panel. In Sana’s case she had to travel to Birmingham (Royal Birmingham Music Conservatoire) in September to meet the panel, which was made out of percussion tutors and members of the NYO management team.

Sana had to perform pieces on marimba and a selection of orchestral excerpts on snare drum and timpani which were sent to her only a short time before the audition. After a short break, Sana had her ensemble audition together with some of the other potential candidates to see how you work with other musicians. It also tests your sight reading and improvisation skills. This was followed by an interview.

After a three (long) week wait, Sana was offered a place in the percussion section with NYO. She is very much looking forward to be working with the Orchestra over the next year and perform in many concerts.

She will attend several residentials which are always followed by concerts tours across the UK. A key part of being a member of NYO means that you also work in the community to inspire the next generation with projects such as “NYOInspire”,  “NYO Play the schools” and “NYO come and play”, which are also projects that highlight the importance of keeping the arts alive in the school curriculum.

Alongside NYO, Sana is also currently a Junior Artist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and has recently been offered a percussion position in the Docklands Sinfonia e14 Orchestra.

Music at Felsted