A 12-year-old musician from New Brunswick has booked a spot to perform at the internationally renowned Carnegie Hall in New York.
Marysol Boisvert, a viola player was awarded the opportunity after finishing third in the spring 2022 American Protégé International Talent Competition. She competed against young musicians from 12 countries, including the United States, India, and South Korea.
Her performance will take place in the spring of 2023.
Boisvert, who is from the community of Richibucto, is a student of Sistema NB, a program created by the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra to provide free daily access to after-school music lessons for students interested in learning an instrument.
“They really helped because they supported me during this journey,” Boisvert said. “Lately, I’ve been on cloud nine, I’m really happy.”
The program launched in 2009 and has since expanded to over nine locations throughout New Brunswick. Over 1,100 children participate in Sistema’s programs daily.
‘It’s a dream’
Boisvert’s music instructor, Swan Serna, said this year was one of the most competitive years in the history of the American Protégé International Talent Competition.
“It’s a dream for a teacher seeing how her hard work is paying off,” said Serna.
“All the elements you need for success were there like the support of family, the student working very hard, a program like Sistema that is teaching her a lot of values like teamwork, discipline, and also a joy for doing music.”
The talented young musician also won bronze in the London Young Musician’s young artist category during their recent online classical music performance competition.
Boisvert said her dream is to become a professional viola player and to teach music herself. She said she’d encourage any young student who’s interested in picking up an instrument to start learning.
“I would say if you want to do it, you can do it,” she said. “You just need determination, hard work, and also family and friends that can support you during the journey.”
As for the other students taking lessons alongside Boisvert, Serna said it’s having a positive effect on the entire group. He said the children are cheering for her success and are motivated to continue practicing.
With a year to prepare for the spring 2023 recitals in New York, Boisvert and Serna said they will continue to focus on music theory and small parts of the piece that she will be performing. Boisvert said she wants to practice in public to prepare herself for the big stage.
“We need to be there two days before the concert because she’ll have some rehearsals with the pianist so she needs to know the hall,” said Serna, when asked how long they will be staying in New York.
“Every hall has special acoustics, so you need to understand how the sound is traveling, she’s going to have rehearsals there and after that she’s going to have the concert, and probably we’re going to visit some places.”
Sistema NB will be organizing fundraising activities leading up to Boisvert’s trip to New York in the spring of 2023. Further information will be available on their website once announced.
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