Young Mannheim Symphonists, the national youth orchestra for historically informed performance presented by the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, is definitely popular. This year the YMS 2024 National Academy features a whopping 52 young musicians from all corners of the country and New Zealand – our biggest program ever. And bringing a brother or sister is clearly popular! This year the National Academy includes no less than four sets of musical siblings, from flute to violin, viola and bass. We interviewed them all to see just what life is like with a musical sibling, and why they love YMS.

For 21-year-old Brisbane twins Belinda and Amanda Wong, playing the flute began 14 years ago with a movie and has turned into a career path.

“I actually started on piccolo and Amanda on flute, because we wanted to play different instruments,” says Belinda. “But our teacher said we were too small for flute, so we both ended up on piccolo anyway.”

“It all started when we were 7 and loved this movie about power of music and friendship,” continues Amanda. “And one of the characters played the flute.”

The two also have supportive parents and an older sister who played clarinet, and all three started on piano.

“We were really keen, just wanted to be like our big sister.” says Belinda.

And while it’s first-come, first-served with practice space at home, both young women love playing together, and seeing their sister achieve musical successes. 

In fact, it was Belinda’s experience of Young Mannheim Symphonists QLD State Academy in 2022 that inspired her to create the Jacaranda Flute Collective, in which they both play with a fellow YMS flautist.

Belinda also attended the YMS QLD State Academy this year, and both will come to YMS National Academy this July – their first YMS together.

“I’m very excited – I’ve been accepted into YMS in the past but got sick beforehand,” explains Amanda. “As an audience member you can see it’s such a unique way of working; there’s so much communication. There’s a high level of musicianship across the orchestra, and the phrasing is really spicy. I’m also looking forward to the chamber music and learning from the faculty.”

Now the twins are turning their love of music into a career. Both are in 4th year at The University of Queensland, they’re each doing a dual degree in music and arts, but with very different foci: Belinda in Psychology and Criminology, and Amanda in Writing.

After university, Belinda hopes to continue flute playing but is open to exploring other fields. She is keen to continue collaborating with other musicians, particularly in ensemble contexts. Amanda plans to pursue further study in flute performance but is open to other areas such as conducting, concert curation, and writing. Her first short story has just been published, and she recently organised a successful concert featuring music by female composers.

In their spare time, both twins love to read and go on walks.

Right now, however, they’re very much looking forward to YMS National Academy.

Says Belinda: “After every YMS I’ve come away buzzing with excitement. It opens up your imagination, which is so unique to this program. It’s always a challenge but it’s so worth it.”

For Josh and Emma Young, the decision to learn violin – and eventually come to Young Mannheim Symphonists – was an easy one. With their parents both keen musicians (both are former presidents of the Northern Sydney Youth Orchestra (NYSO), and their father Philip also plays in the Kuringai Philharmonic Orchestra), music was already a big part of the family.

“When I was five and Josh was six, Dad came up to both of us and said, ‘Do you want to play an instrument?’” remembers Emma. “Of course I said yes! I had no idea what I was signing up for, but it’s been really worth it.”

And their first teacher?

“Well, Dad taught us for about six weeks and then we realised that wasn’t going to work,” they laugh.

Both siblings also learned piano, Josh dabbles in viola and Emma just started singing lessons.

Now in high school (Emma is in Year 10 and Josh in Year 11 at Sydney’s Hills Grammar), the Young siblings fill their days with music whenever possible. Both play in the school orchestra and string ensembles, the Heads of Independent Co-Educational Schools (HICES) Symphony, the Festival of International Music and the NSYO – which is where they first experienced the excitement of playing in historically informed style at a YMS-incursion workshop with Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra.

“It was so fun, so we wanted to do more,” explains Emma.

The siblings came to the Young Mannheim Symphonists NSW State Academy last October – their first week-long YMS – and are very excited about the YMS 2024 National Academy in Melbourne this July.

“I loved YMS NSW because we played one of my favourite symphonies for a whole week – Beethoven Symphony No.7,” says Josh.

“YMS is great, because compared to a lot of other orchestral settings it’s very high intensity,” adds Emma. “You go into more depth in rehearsals. Other youth orchestras may be bigger, but actually having a smaller high-quality ensemble where everyone’s really into it means there’s lots of energy. That’s so fun.”

In fact, Emma sees a lot of similarity between YMS and her other passion: theatre.

“They intersect a lot more than I expected,” Emma says. “YMS really feels like a drama ensemble: you get to know the people well, there’s much more back-and-forth in rehearsal rather than just playing the notes on the page.

Josh, meanwhile, is doing a lot of composing, recently winning a competition for a violin fugue duet he played with Emma. With its in-depth presentations on composers, historical techniques and recordings, and musical careers, as well as constant compositional analysis during rehearsals, YMS is the perfect learning ground.

Chatting together, Josh and Emma get on well, with easy banter. But what’s it been like growing up with a close musical sibling?

“There are definitely pros and cons,” Josh says. “For instance, when you’re practicing and someone comes in and says, ‘You’re doing that bit wrong!’”

“Yeah, that can be a bit annoying!” laughs Emma.

But, says Josh, it’s also good when you want to play chamber music and you have someone right there in the house.

Emma agrees. “It’s been great for me because Josh is closer to the age of other people we’d be wanting to play with. So I get invited automatically into some good groups!”

Is there any musical rivalry?

“Only a bit,” smiles Josh.

The pair have big musical goals for the future: conducting, composing, teaching, playing in an orchestra and (for Emma) conducting opera or musical theatre.

Launching with YMS 2024 National Academy, meanwhile, is an excellent start.

When you have a pianist, an organist and two violinists sharing the same living room, practice space is at a premium – so Young Mannheim Symphonists siblings Timothy and Johanna Li have gotten very good at (ahem) negotiating for it. But with a violin teacher mother as well, there’s also a whole lot of musical inspiration in the house.

“We both started learning the violin when we were two years old,” says Tim, who’s now in 1st year at Sydney Conservatorium. “Our mum is a Suzuki violin teacher, so she just started us.”

“We also both learned the piano, and that’s really my main instrument now, although I love violin,” adds Johanna, who’s in Year 10 at Cheltenham Girls High School.

Added to the mix is that Tim is also an organist – and has an old digital organ with massive cathedral-style casing in the living room. He recently converted it to be MIDI-compatible.

“There’s definitely some fighting for practicing in the living room now,” he laughs.

“Yes, my brother doesn’t seem to understand that he can take his violin anywhere, but I can’t exactly move the piano!” adds Johanna drily.

The two occasionally play duets, including one they’re currently preparing for an upcoming concert organised by their mum. And Johanna has definitely benefitted from having a violinist as an older brother. Both play in the Northern Sydney Youth Orchestra, and experienced YMS-incursion workshops with the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra in recent years.

So when Tim took part in the YMS 2023 NSW State Academy, Johanna went to the final concert and discovered what it was all about.

“It was nice!” she says. “I wasn’t planning on auditioning last year but my mum encouraged me, so I applied.”

Now, both siblings are coming to the YMS 2024 National Academy in Melbourne 8-13 July, and are really looking forward to it.

“It’s nice to explore different styles of music, and learn how people played music in the past,” says Johanna, who prefers modern and Romantic music in general. “And I’m looking forward to meeting everyone at YMS National Academy.”

For Tim, YMS co-director and conductor Rachael Beesley is a big inspiration, as well as exploring historic styles. An organ scholar at Our Lady of Dolours in Chatswood, he’s making the most of his Melbourne trip by also arranging a visit to the 19th-century organ at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea in North Melbourne.

“I’ve been looking at more old recordings,” Tim says. “It gives you a fresh perspective when you play pieces.”

Outside of music time, Johanna likes to bake and read a lot, and Tim has spent many hours retrofitting the electronics of his home organ as well as organising a Sydney-based chamber orchestra that recently had its first public concert.

They’re not sure what the future holds, but it will definitely include music.

“I’ll just see where it takes me,” says Johanna.

For Alexander Arthur, 19, there are distinct advantages to having a younger brother who plays double bass.

“Growing up it was good – I always got lifts to rehearsal because James always had to be driven,” explains Alex with a smile.

With his brother James (17), Alex grew up in a musical family in Corinda, QLD, and began learning violin in Prep. After six months he decided percussion was more fun, but in Year 3 he tried the viola and was hooked.

James, meanwhile, gave the bass a try in Year 5 and has loved it ever since.

Both brothers are now in university: Alex studying Computer Science at the University of Queensland, James doing Antarctic Marine Science at the University of Tasmania - and both are coming to YMS 2024 National Academy in July.

Sharing music with your brother goes deeper than ride-sharing, though.

“We don’t really play duets much – there’s not a lot of bass/viola repertoire – but I like having someone else to share cool music with, or listen to me practice and give suggestions,” Alex says.

“I’d agree with that,” says James. “And when we’re preparing for camps or orchestras we’re both doing, we can play through our parts together with the recording. It’s a lot of fun!”

Was there any musical sibling rivalry, though?

“There were definitely fights over practice space!” says Alex. “We have a lovely big piano room, so if you were relegated to practising in your bedroom, that’s the lower tier experience. James would pull the ‘I have to lug my bass all the way down the corridor’ move, while I pulled rank. Usually, however, I would be the bigger person and avoid conflict.”

“Of course you would!” James laughs.

Both brothers have other musical talents: James has played electric bass and jazz saxophone, Alex sings and plays percussion. They have an entire recorder consort at home. They also share a love of outdoor activities (hiking, camping, cycling, rock climbing for Alex), and reading. Alex does coding, and James is looking forward to learning diving at uni.

But they’ve also both done several YMS courses, and love the sense of community there.

“One of the best things is how tutors play alongside us during rehearsal,” says James. “You get so much more learning from these incredible musicians actually playing the repertoire with you. YMS is good for developing my musicianship and ensemble skills. I’ve come out of every single program just amazed at how much I could do in terms of interaction with other musicians.”

“Obviously the music side is great, getting different perspectives and history,” adds Alex. “But it’s the people that you have there, who have similar interests, that are the best thing. It’s a really good vibe.”