Hektor, Jane, and the Michigan Philharmonic Youth Orchestra

"My father was the first inspiration. He was a pro trumpet player” says Hektor Qyteti, our Principal second violin. He started in a musical family that inspired him to continue the music world footsteps. For Hektor, music has been part of his life since he can remember. At a very young age, Hektor wanted to play the trumpet as his father did, but at such young age, 6 ½ years old, it’s practically impossible, so he took the violin. For Hektor playing violin has been fun and he enjoys playing any note, any music and at any concert. Music is his world.

Hektor is native from Albania where he was the Concertmaster of Korce Philharmonia Orchestra, during which time he performed as soloist in the Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and other major concertos. For 10 years in Albania, he was the Music Director of the Board of Education at the prestigious Korce Tefta Tashko K-12 and High School.

Hektor also conducts the Michigan Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, “Its fun to direct the Youth Orchestra and teaching them (the children) privately". Hektor is a busy musician; he also plays the Assistant Concertmaster of the Grosse Pointe Symphony as well as other orchestras in the region such as Dearborn Symphony, Warren, Rochester and Pontiac.

It is exciting to witness how much a young person can achieve in a short period of training. “It thrills me to hear how much they accomplish in such a short period and Hektor is a great musician, who engages with the youth with so much care that the kids like to work with him”, affirms Jane Libbing, Manager of the Michigan Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Education Coordinator. It is important for an orchestra organization to be able to channel the need of the community. The youth orchestra was created to satisfy the demand of our Plymouth Canton community. According to Libbing, “the schools were not providing enough opportunities for children to experience and make music. The demand was big”.

The League of American Orchestras and the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) have provided many researches on the topic of how music education is beneficial for children. Certainly, music is a catalyst for imaginative expression and prepares students to learn, facilitating concentration practices. According to the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) study, “music education enhances fine motor skills, improves recall and retention of verbal information, advances math achievement, improves average SAT scores, and strengthens perseverance”. For the Michigan Philharmonic organization, it is very important the realization of young children as musicians, not just as a part of another check list item, but truly the satisfaction of success that benefits our community in the long run.

The Michigan Philharmonic started its Youth Orchestra many years ago with a handful of children. Today the Orchestra hosts more than 100 children. “The need is big in our community for Youth Orchestras and ours provides the space, the energy and the quality to our youth” says Libbing. Jane has been a long time resident of Plymouth and has been very active with the Youth Orchestra since its beginning. In 2004, the Michigan Philharmonic hired her as the Education Coordinator to administer the CLASSical Music Outreach program in the schools and to manage the Michigan Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.

As Hektor experienced as a child, music can be the world.

The Michigan Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Winter Concert will be on December 8 at 7 pm at Canton’s Village Theater. For tickets call 734.451.2112 or visit www.michiganphil.org.

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Up Next:

Holiday Pops with the Phil, December 10, 6 and 8 pm at Penn Theater in Plymouth.

You can find more on Music Education at www.americanorchestras.org and www.aep-arts.org