Two Arts students - Anna Cooper and Sasha Rasmussen - were among four University of Auckland students selected to take part in the NZ Symphony Orchestra’s National Youth Orchestra in July this year.
Competition to take part in this week long educational programme for under 25 year-olds is fierce. The Orchestra brings together top young musicians from all over the country to give them a taste of what life is like for professional musicians.
The intensive programme showed Anna Cooper and Sasha Rasmussen (along with Pearl Huang and Kenny Keppel, the other University of Auckland participants) what it would be like to be part of the NZ Symphony Orchestra.
“It is the best experience you can get as a young musician” explains Sasha, a postgraduate student who is completing her BA(Hons) in History. “You have a week of intensive music; you take a week off from everything else and just focus on your music”.
The students were aided by the Vice Chancellor’s Arts Support fund. This financial contribution helped to make attending the programme a reality. “The fund made it an absolute ‘yes you can’ do this, instead of wondering if you could find a way there” Sasha says.
To find out more about the Vice Chancellor’s Arts Support fund visit the Scholarships and Awards website.
