Madam, - I have been following the recent controversy over the decision of the board of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland with dismay.
Having been on the committee which set up the NYOI in 1969 and having been orchestra manager at the outset I have always had a great affection for the organisation and have watched its development with pride and joy.
Nobody who listened to the very first rehearsal in Our Lady's Convent in Rathnew (when, because of lack of experience, the opening bars of Schubert's Unfinished Symphonysounded as though a swarm of bees had been let loose in the room!) could have foreseen the tremendous achievements of successive orchestras when their performances have rivalled those of excellent professional orchestras on many occasions.
The leadership and guidance of the redoubtable Olive Smith, who masterminded the first courses, was handed on to excellent carers over the years and the recent reign of Joanna Crooks, highlighted by the US tour and the Wagner Ringcycle, was admired by all.
But what has the board been doing since she resigned? Far too long has elapsed in the interim without a new general manager being announced. And then the bombshell of the announcement of the amalgamation of the two orchestras caught us all by surprise.
If, as has been said, there were problems with falling numbers, it is surely the board's fault that this was not flagged a long time in advance and the reasons for this fall-off analysed. I am not even aware of the board circulating members of the orchestras with any questionnaire which might have helped. I have already been told that there were many reasons for the fall-off including: (a) the cost of attending was becoming prohibitive; (b) the timing of the summer course right in the middle of the holidays was inconvenient for many reasons; (c) canny orchestra members discovered that since there was often a scarcity of participants for crucial instruments they could usually rely on being called on to take part in the course for no fee at all.
As director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, which continuously produces such a high standard of student in all orchestral instruments, I find it incomprehensible that I was not made aware of any ongoing problem within the orchestra. I would have been more than happy to co-operate if approached, yet no attempt was ever made to get in touch.
It is good that Michael Dervan's articles are keeping this matter to the forefront of people's minds. The board may hope the controversy will go away but I, for one, will refuse to allow this retrograde step by the board to go unchallenged and I call on all present, former and future members of the orchestras (and their parents and families) to let their feelings be known in no uncertain terms.
I have already heard suggestions that the board members must be so out of touch with the members of their organisation that they should resign en masse and let a new board be formed that would inject the fresh spirit which the superb individuals who comprise the orchestra deserve. This may sound like an astonishing suggestion but one that deserves to be considered.
I will be interested to discover what steps the Arts Council, the Department of Education and the NYOI's magnificent sponsors, Toyota Ireland, are planning. - Yours, etc,
JOHN O'CONOR, Director, Royal Irish Academy of Music, Westland Row, Dublin 2.