"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.
