Zander has lead 22 youth orchestra tours, but the most recent tour with BPYO to South America has left a different and deep impression. Read to learn why!

A message from Ben Zander about the success of BPO's Mahler 2nd performances and the BPYO's upcoming Mahler 6th performances.

Remembering Don Davis, principal trombone

Benjamin Zander shares a story about a student's audition.

Benjamin Zander discusses Holst's The Planets and Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra.

To dramatize this assignment, I told the orchestra the story of the great cellist Jaqueline Du Pré, who, at the age of five, entered her first competition. She was seen running gleefully down a corridor with her cello held high, like a banner. The parent of another child, seeing the broad grin on Jackie’s face, said: “Well, I can see that you have already played”. “No!” Jackie flashed back, “I am just about to!”

Emily used the first assignment to resolve a difficult situation concerning a perennial issue for musicians playing in orchestras – namely her seat assignment, and thereby, came up with an insight that could be useful for everybody:

For this assignment I asked the members to report back about their steps, so I was inundated. It was hard to choose from the vast number of written responses to this assignment. One day I will put their responses in a book!

What does “Shaping Future Leaders through Music” really mean? Surely, in an orchestra there can only be one leader, or at best a few chosen players who sit in the first chairs. And how can we say we are shaping future leaders? Isn’t leadership an innate quality born only in few people? “No”, we say, “indeed it is not!” Leadership, like playing the violin is learned through good training and lots of practice. Every time we open our mouths, or interact with another person, it is an opportunity for leadership.

White sheets from students