Free But Not Easy: East County Youth Symphony Takes on Scheherazade

Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov might never have imagined Scheherazade, his challenging orchestral piece, performed by a group of San Diego County musicians as young as 13, including La Mesa Middle School’s Amber Hunter.

But there was Amber, an eighth-grader, on first violin—watched by proud mother Tia Robinson, a La Mesan who served as emcee Sunday afternoon for the fourth annual performance of the East County Youth Symphony at the La Mesa Community Center.

Amber’s violin tutor, Ken Jerehian, had pointed her toward the youth symphony and its director, Olga Reztsova, who was born in Ukraine to Russian parents. A violin prodigy, she moved to the United States in 2002.

Newer fans of Reztsova are San Diegans Jim Alsup, a retired SPAWAR scientist, and Sandy Peterson, an obstetrician, ages 70 and 58, respectively.

They played their French horns Sunday in the back row as part of the Youth Symphony concert.

“We play the low parts,” said Alsup, explaining they were called up to plug holes in the group, rehearsing for the first time earlier that afternoon.

But even with their short exposure to the advanced division of the group, they were impressed.

“The gal playing the bassoon has the most beautiful tone I’ve heard in years,” he said. “The obo player is good.”

And Reztsova? 

Two thumbs up, with Peterson saying: “She knows where they make mistakes” and can straighten them out as they perform. “She never falters.”

Patty O’Reilly, secretary of the La Mesa ARTS Alliance, introduced the symphony, which had use of the La Mesa Community Center for free as part of city support for youth arts.

An audience of 60, mostly family members, sat amid 300 folding chairs set up for the concert, hearing a trumpet concerto by Alexander Arutiunian and the well-known Scheherazade (which followed a half-hour intermission that included snacks and a silent auction fundraiser for the arts alliance).

Ecuadorean-born Carlos Roldan, 22, a San Diego State University student with his own foundation, played a difficult trumpet solo.

Last year, La Mesans made up more than half of the East County Youth Symphony, Peterson said. But it grew so big that this year it was split into three sections, with the advanced division playing four concerts in May alone.

Members are from age 8 to 25—but now include youngsters from South County and San Diego as well as Lakeside, Santee and La Mesa—and the advanced group rehearses Fridays at the New Seasons Church in Spring Valley.

At intermission, conductor Reztsova said the group had sent 2½ months preparing for Sunday’s concert.

“They never meet my expectations,” she said at intermission, “but they did great overall. Only me and the musicians” knew where they flubbed. But the performance was “better than other rehearsals.”

O’Reilly described the arts alliance as a “small but determined clump of people” interested in promoting the arts—and proud of venturing for the first time into classical music.

As the Russian conductor led the group in a Russian composition, O’Reilly quietly exclaimed from the rear of the room: “Can you [believe] a group of kids tackling Scheherazade? It’s amazing.”