Robert Lau conducted the 10th anniversary concert of CYOSC
創辦社區青少年管弦樂團的柳可久指揮十週年音樂會
(The following text is an excerpt from the book Chinese Americans in Irvine 1971-2021.)
The Community Youth Orchestra of Southern California (CYOSC), officially registered as a nonprofit organization in 1990, was founded by violin teacher Robert Lau. Fifteen years later, the baton was passed to Huang Jingxi (Gene Wie) who has a master in music from U. C. Irvine. With enthusiasm and preservation the two orchestra conductors have cultivated local young musicians over the past 30 years.
Robert Lau, the founding music director, is talented in both science and music. He majored in biology at Beijing University and at the same time he was the principal violinist of the University Orchestra. He was engaged in research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences before moving to Hong Kong and later he switched his career to music. He was admitted to the Strings Department of the Hong Kong Pan Asian Symphony Orchestra and served as a music training official of the Hong Kong government.
After immigrating to the United States in the 1980s, Robert became a violin teacher and has conducted three Chinese schools’ orchestras in Orange County, including Irvine Chinese School, Kenting Chinese School and North Orange Chinese School. At the request of parents, Robert organized a youth orchestra in 1989. In the beginning, the members were mainly his students. However he emphasized that the name of the orchestra — the Community Youth Orchestra of Southern California was set up as an educational organization which should be inclusive of all youth in the community.
The goal of the CYOSC is to improve students’ musical performances. In line with the non-profit purpose, all staff are volunteers and the members are only charged a nominal fee. The annual performances are free to the public. In 2002, it held a fundraising concert for the South Coast Chinese Cultural Center and donated $5,000 from the proceeds.
Robert Lau recalled that during his tenure as the conductor, in order to differentiate the orchestra from other youth string orchestras, he selected both the Eastern and Western music in the repertoires. His choice of music includes those from China, Russia, Indonesia and other Asian countries. Robert hoped the students would have the opportunity to learn and appreciate melodies from different cultures.
Due to the lack of suitable music scores for youth string orchestras, Robert spent 10 hours each week rearranging music scores and has successfully adapted more than 100 pieces tailored for youth string orchestras. Thirty years ago, the Chinese melody was rarely played by any youth orchestras. CYOSC took the lead in launching the beautiful melodies such as the Liang Zhu Violin Concerto, the Yellow River Piano Concerto, and the Red Mansion Pipa Concerto. These performances brought the audiences a refreshing and lovely tune.
In 1994, CYOSC went to Taiwan for an island tour performance and in 1996, it performed in Beijing and Xi’an. In 1998, the orchestra represented Orange County to perform in the Tianjin International Art Festival. This delegation led by William Steiner, who was the Orange County supervisor at the time, was to promote cultural exchanges with music.
Since 2000, Robert Lau started looking for suitable successors for the orchestra. It took five years to find Gene Wie, who has a Bachelor of Computer and a Master of Music from U. C. Irvine. In 2020, CYOSC converted to online practice because of the pandemic, so the music continued to serenade in the home of each member.
In the past 30 years, CYOSC graduates encompass musicians, doctors, lawyers and other professionals. When they return to Irvine, they will always take the time to coach and encourage the young members. This is a testament to what Robert Lau has said, “This orchestra is for students, and all members are like a big family!” (English translation by Betty Mak)
Orange County supervisor William Steiner (left) commemorated CYOSC for its performance in the Tianjin International Art Festival.
1998 年代表橙縣參加天津國際藝術節，由當時擔任橙縣縣委的 William Steiner 率團出行，達成以音樂促進文化交流的目的
(以下文字摘錄自《爾灣華裔紀實1971-2021》一書)
於1990 年正式登記為非營利組織的南加州青少年弦樂團（Community Youth Orchestra of Southern California，簡稱 CYOSC）， 由小提琴老師柳可久（Robert Lau）創辦，15 年後改由爾灣加大音樂碩士黃景熙（Gene Wie）接棒，兩位樂團指揮憑著熱情與傻勁，無怨無悔的投入，30 年來培育出一群成長於爾灣的音樂人。
創團音樂總監柳可久，是一位跨越科學與音樂的才子，他在北京大學主修生物學，也是北大樂團首席小提琴，曾在中國科學院從事研究工作，後移居香港，轉入熱愛的小提琴領域，曾考取香港泛亞交響樂團弦樂部，並任職香港政府的音樂培訓官員。
80 年代移民來美，柳可久收了不少慕名而來的小提琴學生，先後擔任橙縣三所中文學校樂團指揮，包括爾灣中文學校、墾丁中文學校及北橙中文學校。應華人家長要求，柳可久於 1989 年開始籌組南加州青少年弦樂團，雖然剛開始時，樂團成員以他的學生為主，但柳可久強調說，樂團命名為南加州青少年弦樂團，就是希望淡化他的個人色彩，讓樂團成為真正屬於社區的公益教育組織。
南加州青少年弦樂團以提升學生音樂演奏水平為目標，本著非營利的宗旨，全團工作人員均是不支薪的志工，僅向團員收取象徵性團費。該團每年公演也都免費對外開放，還在 2002 年為籌建南海岸中華文化中心舉行募款音樂會，率先捐出 5000 元所得。
柳可久回憶說，在他擔任指揮期間，為了讓樂團與其他的青少年弦樂團有所區隔，選曲採東、西方音樂各半，範圍擴及中國、俄國、印尼等亞洲國家音樂，讓團員有機會學習不同文化背景的旋律。
由於現成的樂譜中缺乏適合青少年弦樂團的樂曲，柳可久每周要花上 10 小時編曲，先後改編 100 多首為青少年弦樂團量身打造的曲目。30 年前，南加州還很少聽到學生樂團演奏中國旋律時，南加州青少年弦樂團率先推出改編的梁祝小提琴協奏曲、黃河鋼琴協奏曲、紅樓夢琵琶協奏曲等優美旋律，讓人耳目一 新，也深獲中外愛樂人士激賞。
南加州青少年弦樂團曾於 1994 年前往台灣舉辦環島演出，1996 年前往北京及西安演出。1998 年代表橙縣參加天津國際藝術節，由當時擔任橙縣縣委的 William Steiner 率團出行，達成以音樂促進文化交流的目的。
2000 年起柳可久開始為樂團尋覓合適的接棒人， 經過五年才找到獲有爾灣加大電腦學士及音樂碩士的 Gene Wie。2020 年受到新冠肺炎疫情衝擊，CYOSC 全面轉為網上練習，讓音樂繼續飄揚在每個團員的家中。
30 年來，CYOSC 畢業團員中不乏音樂家、醫 生、律師及專業人士，他們若回到爾灣，總會抽空義務擔任弦樂指導老師，將愛樂的初心傳承給更多學生，正印證了柳可久所說的：「這個樂團是為學生辦的，所有的團員都是終身制，好像一個大家庭一樣！」 （蕭迪玉撰文)