‘Too much fun!’ A photo diary from Youth Orchestra L.A.’s first concert tour
The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s YOLA holds a 10th anniversary tour with stops in Northridge, Visalia, Fresno and Oakland.
Youth Orchestra Los Angeles recently completed its first tour, a 10th-anniversary road trip that took the kids from Northridge to Visalia, Fresno and finally Oakland, where they filled the Paramount Theatre for a concert conducted by Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel.
The Times asked 17-year-old violinist Ruby Becerra to document the journey and capture the experience through her eyes for these photos.
The video above was shot by Times photographer Kirk McKoy who hit the road with YOLA.
Before departing Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A., the wind section takes a group picture.
Lizeth Martinez keeps busy with Snapchat filters on our four-hour bus ride to Visalia.
Dameon Williams plays some of Ravel’s “Mother Goose,†one of his favorite pieces, at our first rest stop. It’s a clarinet thing.
We arrive at L.J. Williams Community Theater in Visalia in the rain and head straight to our first rehearsal. Pictured: John Gonzalez and Jorge Avila.
Pretty tired, but I'm trying to push myself to be alert during our first rehearsal. Trying to get used to the new venue and the acoustics of it to make sure our sound was good.
A quick first violin selfie with Sajhal Bautista before we go on.
Our concertmaster, Beatrice Padilla, makes sure Jacob Molina and the rest of us are in tune for our concert.
This is the first day of the tour that we have to do homework. I worked on my AP European and government homework. This isn’t a vacation! Pictured: Israel Natareno.
We arrive at our next venue, the William Saroyan Theatre in Fresno. Felt a bit more confident about the concert this time, since we performed in Northridge and Visalia.
Another rehearsal, another gorgeous venue. Sajhal Bautista takes in our venue in Fresno.
It's our last tour concert with YOLA conductor Juan Felipe Molano. (Gustavo Dudamel will conduct when we reach Oakland.) Glad that Juan Felipe stuck around for so many of these (and for this selfie). We can really tire out our staff sometimes.
The day after the Fresno concert, we have a free day to tour the campus of UC Berkeley. A selfie with Sirilo Ramirez before we leave the bus.
One of the big landmarks of UC Berkeley, according to our tour guide.
The guys check out one of the many bears on campus.
A picture shot by one of my chaperones. Gustavo is a pretty funny guy.
At the end of the tour, Gustavo gave us a speech about how he sees us as professionals and treats us like we are, yet he knows that we’re so young. He said he was proud of us.
-- Ruby Becerra
Follow The Times’ arts team @culturemonster.
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