WNJYO.co.uk - Text Only - About Us

About Us

Our full name is West Norfolk Jubilee Youth Music Association, and we run an Orchestra and Concert Band. The organisation is a charity and is run entirely by volunteers. Each year we perform a number of concerts at a variety of different venues.
Who can join WNJYO?

We welcome players into the Orchestra and Band regularly, as long as you are under 21, we have a vacancy for your instrument and you are willing to commit to a musical ensemble. We like all players to be working at about grade 5 level, if you are unsure if you are the right level then please get in touch with us!

Subscriptions

Members pay a yearly fee of £35. New members also pay and extra £10 which pays for a tie. This money goes towards the cost of the venues, music and many other things.

Rehearsals

We rehearse every Wednesday evening during term time from 6:30pm until 9pm. We hold our rehearsals at Springwood High School in Kings Lynn. We produce a rehearsal schedule a term in advance; members can obtain this information via the login page. All members are asked to arrive at least 10 minutes before the rehearsal starts to help set out chairs, stands and to tune up.

We expect all members to attend all rehearsals in order to play the concerts. If you are unable to make a rehearsal, we still expect you to get your music there as we may have a limited number of copies!

History

WNJYO was formed in 1977. It was a project approved to use funds collected for the Queen's Silver Jubilee Appeal. Its purpose was to foster the musical education and training of young musicians in the area to encourage a high standard of musicianship.

In the early days, WNJYO was a combined schools orchestra of about 20 members. In autumn 1981 we moved to evening rehearsals, meaning that we could attract members from a much wider area, and have longer rehearsal times.

More students joined and the increase in numbers caused us to form two separate ensembles, an Orchestra and a Concert Band. We now have almost 50 playing members in the Orchestra or Band or even both!

In the past, WNJYO has undertaken a great number of tours. We have performed in France, Holland, Germany, The Czech Republic, Austria, Italy and Eire. WNJYO members don't just play for us though, some players also are involved in County Youth Orchestra and some have even gone on to play in the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra.

So, I hear you ask, who was the man who supported WNJYO through all this?

The answer is Sir Malcolm Arnold CBE. Unfortunately, he pasted away last year. This meant that we had an opening for someone to follow in his footsteps. This man was Kit Hesketh-Harvey..