National Institute of Arts’ Youth Orchestra will perform two virtual winter concerts on Saturday, December 12, and Saturday, December 19. Story on page .
PHILIPSBURG--National Institute of Arts’ (NIA’s) Youth Orchestra will perform two virtual winter concerts on Saturday, December 12, and Saturday, December 19. The virtual performances start at 9:00am and end at 11:00am and can be viewed via a Zoom link.
The Youth Orchestra performing at Walter Plantz Square.
The National Youth Orchestra is part of the “Music Brings People Together” programme, which was started in November 2018 with the assistance of the Dutch Disaster Fund. Students 6-18 years old were admitted to the orchestra after an audition and intake, and professional musicians were recruited to form St. Maarten’s first youth orchestra.
NIA also invested in a wide array of musical instruments, such as violins, trumpets, trombones, flutes, clarinets, cellos, keyboards, oboes and percussion instruments.
Students attend classes three times per week: two classes in small groups during the week and on Saturday with the entire orchestra. After signing a waiver, students can take their musical instruments home to practise.
The NIA Youth Orchestra has performed for a live audience at least three times per year since its inception. With the financial assistance of the Dutch Cooperation Fund, the orchestra was able to continue classes and to go on summer camp 2020.
The orchestra management has been looking for alternatives to present recitals to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the recitals are deemed important for the orchestra to show progress and to be exposed to an audience.
During the Winter Concerts, the Youth Orchestra will present part of its regular repertoire, but also include some well-known Christmas tunes. The conductors of the orchestra are Neville James and Dennis Amajan. The orchestra will perform from the Black Box studio at John Larmonie Center.
Zoom-link requests can be sent to
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. mentioning your name or name of organisation and the number of people watching. The Zoom-link will be sent after receipt of the registration request.
NIA thanked all students, instructors, and parents for their perseverance during these challenging times, as well as the Dutch Cooperation Fund and all sponsors for their support.
As of January 4, 2021, NIA is open again to enrol new students.
