All in the (Musical) Family

Three sets of musical siblings will play at Young Mannheim Symphonists 2024 QLD State Academy, held 2-6 April in Brisbane by the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra.

 Growing up with a musical sibling sounds like an idyllic movie plot – or a potential bickering match. Family duets? Friendly feedback? Fights over practice rooms?

For many musical Australian kids, they’re all common scenarios, and this week no less than three sets of siblings – including a pair of twins – will also be sharing a unique youth orchestra experience offered in Brisbane by the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra.

The Young Mannheim Symphonists 2024 QLD State Academy runs 2-6 April at St Peters Lutheran College, Indooroopilly, full of rehearsals, workshops and tutorials that dive into playing Mozart, Beethoven and more in historically informed style. Young musicians aged 13-23 get to explore the lush sound-world of gut strings, historical winds and brass, learning from early recordings and Australia’s best professionals just what these 18th- and 19th-century pieces would have sounded like when first composed.

ARCO offers its YMS Academies three times a year in QLD, NSW and VIC. And this QLD State Academy will be even more special for seven teenagers sharing it with siblings: two brothers on viola and bass from Corinda, QLD; two Adelaide twins playing horn and bassoon; and a brother and two sisters from Loganholme, QLD in the violin and viola sections.

We chatted to a few of them about being musical siblings at YMS.

JAMES ARTHUR, bass, & ALEX ARTHUR, viola | Brisbane

For Alexander Arthur, 19, there are distinct advantages to having a younger brother who plays double bass.

“Growing up it was good – I always got lifts to rehearsal because James always had to be driven,” explains Alex with a smile.

With his brother James (17), Alex grew up in a musical family in Corinda, QLD, and began learning violin in Prep. After six months he decided percussion was more fun, but in Year 3 he tried the viola and was hooked.

James, meanwhile, gave the bass a try in Year 5 and has loved it ever since.

Both brothers are now in university: Alex studying computer science at the University of Queensland, James doing Antarctic marine science at the University of Tasmania.

Sharing music with your brother goes deeper than ride-sharing, though.

“We don’t really play duets much – there’s not a lot of bass/viola repertoire – but I like having someone else to share cool music with, or listen to me practice and give suggestions,” Alex says.

“I’d agree with that,” says James. “And when we’re preparing for camps or orchestras we’re both doing, we can play through our parts together with the recording. It’s a lot of fun!”

Was there any musical sibling rivalry, though?

“There were definitely fights over practice space!” says Alex. “We have a lovely big piano room, so if you were relegated to practising in your bedroom, that’s the lower tier experience. James would pull the ‘I have to lug my bass all the way down the corridor’ move, while I pulled rank. Usually, however, I would be the bigger person and avoid conflict.”

“Of course you would!” James laughs.

Both brothers have other musical talents: James has played electric bass and jazz saxophone, Alex sings and plays percussion. They have an entire recorder consort at home. They also share a love of outdoor activities (hiking, camping, cycling, rock climbing for Alex), and reading. Alex does coding, and James is looking forward to learning diving at uni.

But they’ve also both done several YMS courses, and love the sense of community there.

“One of the best things is how tutors play alongside us during rehearsal,” says James. “You get so much more learning from these incredible musicians actually playing the repertoire with you. YMS is good for developing my musicianship and ensemble skills. I’ve come out of every single program just amazed at how much I could do in terms of interaction with other musicians.”

“Obviously the music side is great, getting different perspectives and history,” adds Alex. “But it’s the people that you have there, who have similar interests, that are the best thing. It’s a really good vibe.”

ANGUS MCBRIDE, bassoon and LIAM MCBRIDE, horn | Adelaide

For two Adelaide twins, it was pretty important not to play the same instrument.

“We both started on flute at age 9,” says Angus. “I didn’t dislike it but I didn’t love it. I wanted something different, so I changed to bassoon when I was 12.”

“We both wanted to change, but Angus told me I couldn’t play the same instrument as him!” remembers Liam with a laugh. “So I picked horn.”

Now the brothers are nearly 20, with a birthday just after the YMS QLD State Academy. It’s their first time at a YMS course, and they’re traveling all the way from South Australia to attend.

Both are really looking forward to it.

“I’m excited to play those pieces the way they would have originally sounded,” says Angus.

Liam’s even borrowing a natural horn – an early form of the instrument with no valves, just the position and pressure of hand and lips to change notes.

“I’m interested to see how dependent I am on valves!” Liam says.

The course will also help both brothers’ goal of becoming professional musicians, as well as Liam’s interest in critical Urtext score editing. Both are third year performance majors at the University of Adelaide, playing in the same orchestras and ensembles.

Growing up, both also played piano and occasionally duets. But yes, there were some squabbles.

“We’d sometimes fight about practice space,” Liam says. “We have a short fuse – I’ll split notes and Angus will chime in and complain! But mostly it’s fun.”

Both twins love to read (often the same book at the same time, though that’s changed now.) Angus likes gardening, walking and making his own bassoon reeds.

“It’s a nice way to wind down before bed,” he says.

INFORMATION and TICKETS

WHAT: The Young Mannheim Symphonists 2024 QLD State Academy runs 2-6 April at St Peters Lutheran College, Indooroopilly

PUBLIC CONCERT: 3:30pm on Saturday 6 April: Tickets: arco.org.au/book-tickets

OTHER PROGRAMS: The YMS 2024 National Academy runs 8-13 July in Melbourne, and the YMS NSW State Academy runs 1-5 October in Sydney. Information: arco.org.au/yms