TEWKSBURY – Sunday October 7th marked the 50th opening of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra program at Symphony Hall and two Tewksbury brothers were on stage for the performance.
Tewksbury High School Senior Liam Sheehy and his Sophomore brother Keegan both auditioned for and were accepted into orchestras with the BYSO. The BYSO consists of 5 programs that include four ability-based orchestras and the Intensive Community Program that provides rigorous string instrument instruction serving under-represented youth. Liam is a member of the Boston Youth Symphony and Keegan is a member of the Repertory Orchestra.
Liam started music lessons through the Tewksbury Schools in the fourth grade where he learned the trumpet. Through the years he moved on to take private lessons and to play the baritone horn and eventually the tuba. Now as a senior, Liam is looking forward to pursuing the tuba as a career. To that end he practices at least five days per week, three with the high school band, 1 with private lessons, and one with the BYS. He even adds one more practice in the winter when he plays with the Wind Ensemble in Lowell.
Liam plays tuba for the BYS, the most advanced ensemble of the BYSO. The BYS consists of 100 outstanding players whose technical levels are highly advanced and who show strong musicianship. Liam also plays for two of the other orchestras because they do not have a tuba player. The Repertory Orchestra and Junior Repertory Orchestra list Liam in their programs as a guest from the Boston Youth Symphony.
Although his acceptance into the BYSO means playing at Symphony Hall and other high caliber halls around the area, Liam is quick to point out that his first priority is his high school band. He says, “School takes precedence over the others because I’ve had a long-standing commitment there.”
Liam is a down to earth, well-spoken student who enjoys the outdoors and also takes his schoolwork seriously. Since the high school does not provide an option for someone to take four years of band and still complete all of the necessary credits, Liam enrolled in a school-approved online course to make up for the missing credits.
Superintendent Christine McGrath spoke highly of both boys, “Liam Sheehy is a talented musician, a leader in our school and a very positive influence. I have enormous respect for him and relied upon him as we sought the new music director.”
And of Keegan she said, “Keegan is a rising star in the music program. You would be hard pressed to find an individual who works harder preparing for and during a competition.”
Keegan, now a sophomore, started instrument lessons in school with a snare drum in the second grade. Today he prefers mallet percussion, which includes instruments like the xylophone, vibraphone, and the marimba. He now performs mallet percussion for the Repertory Orchestra, a group of 100 players of excellent technical and musical ability.
Keegan said that while he does not yet know if this will be a career choice for him, he does know that he’s not giving it up at any point. He doesn’t have a lot of leisure time for things he enjoys like reading, movies and seeing friends, and he said subjects like history and English are okay if he has to choose, but his true interest is to be in “all the high school bands I can be in.”
One of the highlights of Keegan’s young career was playing at Symphony Hall for the first time last winter. He described the experience as “very interesting because it has amazing sound qualities that you cannot get anywhere else in the world.”
The other highlight for Keegan is that he was able to meet one of his idols, a famous percussionist named Evelyn Glennie. Keegan’s father got tickets to a performance and Keegan was able to go back stage.
Liam shares Keegan’s enthusiasm for the opportunities he’s had through his music. “The people and different musicians I’ve met and opportunities I’ve had to do things people never get to do, like play at Symphony Hall,” he said.
Sunday was their most recent opportunity to play at Symphony Hall. Liam described the experience, “It went really well. Things went smoothly and the group played well.”
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