Macon Youth Orchestra performs tonight at Wesleyan College’s Pierce Chapel

Largely due to COVID-19, the Macon Youth Orchestra hasn’t been around for a while but it’s back today with a holiday concert called “A Festive Return” at Wesleyan College’s Pierce Chapel at 6:30 p.m.

Admission to the concert is free.

Presently a 16-member orchestra, the group is made up of middle and high school students from throughout Macon. The reformed orchestra had its first rehearsal on Sept. 26 in preparation for today’s program.

Formerly under the leadership of Jonathan Baker, director of bands at First Presbyterian Day School, for eight years prior to the pandemic, the MYO baton has now been passed to recent Mercer University graduate Bastien Millo.

“The orchestra stopped in about 2019 and hadn’t restarted,” Millo said. “Over the summer I decided to take on the project of reviving it and started contacting people. I talked to public and private school music teachers and directors and private music teachers and others to get things going. I let them know what was happening then the next step was to go into schools and meet and talk to students to see who was interested.

“We started practicing every Monday in late September which didn’t give us a lot of time. But the students have done so well – I know people will really enjoy our first concert.”

Millo said he considers the current group a good start with very talented young musicians. He said in the years ahead, MYO will grow in numbers including those from public and private schools, homeschools and college-aged students. He said he expects to be able to stage three to four concerts a year.

Baker said he’s pleased to see the MYO operating again.

“I was glad when Bastien said he wanted to revive it,” Baker said. “My response was, ‘By all means, take it and run with it.’ I think it’s an excellent and needed opportunity for students, especially those looking for more experience in a higher level, honor band sort of atmosphere. It raises the level of competition and allows those really interested and talented the chance to play a wider selection of music in an orchestral setting not available in the classroom. It gives these young musicians more opportunity to learn and grow and perform.”

As far as the actual history of the MYO, no one was certain when it started other than it has been led by various conductors for various periods of time through the years.

Millo, who just finished his Master’s program in orchestra conducting at Mercer, said he expects to remain in Macon for at least the next five to ten years.

“Then we’ll see where my conducting takes me,” he said. “Right now, I’m focusing on Macon and investing in new generations of musicians.”

Born and raised in France, Millo conducts in both orchestral and choral settings and is a pianist, organist, flutist and vocalist. He is a 2015 graduate of the Conservatory of Arpajon, France, where he performed with the professional Symphonic Orchestra Divertimento. It was then he knew he wanted to become a conductor. That led to undergraduate studies at Houston Baptist University in Texas where he gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in piano performance in 2020 and then to Mercer. He studied conducting with Maestro Adrian Gnam.

Millo is also conductor of the Middle Georgia Flute Choir and gives private instruction in piano, voice and flute.

“This is such a fertile moment for music in Macon,” Millo said. “There is so much going on and I feel there needs to be an orchestra such as this. The feedback I’ve gotten from the students, parents, music instructors and the community has been very positive and confirmed the need to offer opportunities and provide socialization among interested young musicians. I want this concert to show the youth orchestra is back.”

Millo said the evening’s program includes traditional Christmas music, hymns and carols – including a sing-along opportunity – as well as a selection of non-holiday music.

For information about the MYO, see www.facebook.com/maconyouthorchestra or email maconyouthorchestra@gmail.com.

Here’s a quick look at just a few of the other things to catch this weekend:

-You might still get weekend tickets to The Nutcracker of Middle Georgia, www.midganutcracker.com, www.thegrandmacon.com.

-I hear reserved tables are sold but individual seating is still available for the first-ever Mayor’s Sneaker Ball in support of the city’s 200th birthday in 2023. It’s today at 6:30 p.m. at the Macon City Auditorium. www.maconcentreplex.org/event/mayors-sneaker-ball.

-Hear Macon’s living legends Bo Ponder, Robert Lee Coleman and John Ford at Grant’s Lounge during the Blues for Bubu event today at 9 p.m. www.facebook.com/grantslounge.

-Hear Macon native Hughes Taylor at Grant’s Lounge Saturday at 9 p.m. as he brings his band to town to play his fiery brand of modern blues-rock with its lineage back to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Cream and Jimi Hendrix. www.facebook.com/grantslounge.

-Sunday, stroll through works by a selected group of area artisans at the Triangle Arts Market Holiday Event from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Details at www.facebook.com/triangleartsmacon.

Bastien Millo leads the re-formed Macon Youth Orchestra. Photo provided
Bastien Millo leads the re-formed Macon Youth Orchestra. Photo provided

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