Review | NZSO National Youth Orchestra: an ocean voyage in radiant colour
JULY 7, 2026 — Elizabeth Kerr, Five Lines
This year’s NZSO National Youth Orchestra (NYO) is a particularly impressive gathering of the brightest and best of New Zealand’s young orchestral musicians. Last weekend, the Orchestra delighted audiences in Wellington and Auckland with their sparkling ocean-themed programme, named “La Mer” after Claude Debussy’s masterpiece, which ended the concerts.
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It’s a great choice for a youth orchestra. The first interlude, for instance, opens with unison violins and flutes, high and atmospheric, alternating with arpeggiated clarinets doubled by harp and violas, with chorale-like brass interventions underlined by low strings. The brass, ominous and perhaps a little menacing, builds to a climax before the interlude floats out as it began. In just minutes conductor Dane Lam created a compelling atmosphere and all sections of the orchestra had an opportunity to shine.
The NYO musicians under Lam seemed to understand La Mer with intuitive musicianship. This performance had all the flexibility needed to capture Debussy’s sense of the ocean’s ever-shifting power, its profound depths and its light, shimmering surfaces. Lam was able to paint with the vivid colours before him without overly controlling the orchestra, the soloists finding their own rubato, the strings soaring gorgeously, a sense from these young musicians that they loved this challenging music and were committed to finding its essence.