Spotlight on the 2025-2026 Vermont Youth Orchestra Senior Soloists
For their 2025 - 2026 season, the Vermont Youth Orchestra presents a quartet of Senior Soloists who will be highlighted at concerts in October and December 2025, and February and May 2026. Ahead of each concert, Vermont Public Classical will bring you interviews with these talented young musicians. For more information about the Vermont Youth Orchestra and their upcoming season, go to vyo.org.
TRANSCRIPT
HELEN LYONS: The Vermont Youth Orchestra wraps up another fabulous year of music-making with their program Reaching for the Stars, on Sunday, May 3 at the Flynn. The program includes music of contemporary Argentinian composer Valeria Pelka, Howard Hanson’s Symphony #2 ‘Romantic,’ which inspired John William’s score for ET, and music from another classic Williams score: “Across the Stars” from Star Wars. And one final Senior Soloist will be featured as flutist Yvonne Miceler takes the stage to perform the Fantasie by early 20th century French composer Georges Hue. I had a great chat with Yvonne about her journey to center stage.
YVONNE MICELER: Hi, my name is Yvonne Miceler. I play the flute. I am a senior at CVU and I will be playing the Hue Fantasy in May.
HELEN: How long have you been playing the flute, and what made you choose it?
YVONNE: I started playing the flute when I was 9, and I'm lucky enough to have parents that really encouraged me to branch out artistically, and I was super interested in anything that was high up in pitch, so I wanted to try the violin, that didn't work, but the flute was my second choice, and I'm really glad I picked it. It's really, I think it's really expressive and beautiful.
HELEN: Who are your favorite composers?
YVONNE: I love Tchaikovsky, I love ballet music so much. Swan Lake has always been my favorite, and I grew up on it. and I also, I really love playing Dvorak every time we get anything from them. Oh, obviously Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf last year was so fun, yeah.
HELEN: Let’s talk about his piece you’ll be playing on May 3rd - the Fantasie by Georges Hue - what made you pick this one?
YVONNE: I wanted something dramatic. I wanted something that had a lot of different sounds that the flute can make because it's so, I think, easy to express so many different moods, and I really wanted to capture that. I didn't want it to just be super fast and technical. I wanted some lyrical portions. Learning it was initially a little bit of a learning curve, but I felt like it was in my comfort zone enough where I could take it and run a little bit. So I definitely picked a piece that was solidly in my range of what I thought I could do and interpret.
MUSIC PLAYS
YVONNE: I really love that I can play the fantasy and tell a bunch of different stories. One thing I like to do when I practice is like, my teacher will come up with a little - almost like a skit - and I'll act it out like through my playing, so I really appreciate that about the fantasy is that I can portray so much anger and then also a lot of beauty.
MUSIC PLAYS
YVONNE: I like to think of it as like seasons as I go through the piece, I like to pick like a springtime and make it super airy and light. And so, yeah, I really enjoy that about the fantasy.
HELEN: being chosen as a VYO Senior soloist is quite an achievement. How have you changed as a musician to get to this point?
YVONNE: My first year, I had one solo and it was so scary to me. I would freak out, even during rehearsals I would freak out. But, I started to gain a lot of confidence and I think that's some of the confidence that I've even been able to take outside of orchestra, and it's been really transformative. I think that being able to prove that I can play solos and I can support the orchestra, it's a really special feeling and also challenging myself to do it beautifully.
HELEN: Was there a moment when things ‘clicked' for you, when you felt comfortable?
YVONNE: I think it was the summer after my freshman year, we went to, we went on tour in Greece, and it was, we played so much just beautiful music. And that's when I met a bunch of some of my best friends and it was a really good opportunity to kind of combine music and community. and that's like, I think what drew me to like, I really want to, I really want to be here. I think my teacher and I have talked about this to where it was like, all of a sudden I was becoming more ambitious with opportunities, like I was seeking them out.
HELEN: You’ve achieved so much with the VYO, will you continue with flute in college? Where are you headed?
YVONNE: I'm committed to Middlebury. I mean, I want to be in all the ensembles I can. I think that ensemble playing is what I love best. I really, really love being in an orchestra, especially, and I think that If I can maintain that throughout my life, I will be so, so happy.
HELEN: What is your advice to younger musicians about finding that joy and confidence?
YVONNE: I think listening to as much orchestral music and as much like solo repertoire as you possibly can, really like that helps me get inspired. I think just like picking someone that really inspires you, and just listening to what they have really gets you going. and then that initial push will help you, stay motivated and it's just like a learning curve, you know, just sticking with it. For orchestra, meeting as many people as you can - don't sit in a corner like I did, your first year, definitely reach out, meet people, go on the tours, yeah.
HELEN: Any last thoughts about the May 3rd performance?
YVONNE: I'm excited because it's my last concert. I'm really excited to go out with a bang. Please come to the Flynn on May 3rd to hear the VYOA. We will be performing an amazing program, come check us out.
HELEN: My thanks to Yvonne Miceler for speaking with me. Hear Yvonne and the Vermont Youth Orchestra as they cap off another fabulous year of music-making with their program, Reaching for the Stars, Sunday, May 3 at 3 p.m. at the Flynn in Burlington, for more information and tickets head to vyo.org
