[ "The Marriage of Figaro" (Overture)" playing ] ♪♪ >> Hello and a warm welcome to "Youth Music of the World."

Throughout this series, we're saluting young American musicians and showcasing their performances at some of Europe's most iconic venues.

For this edition, we're in London, and this is the Carl Sandburg High School Symphonic Winds at Saint John's Church in Smith Square, Westminster.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] >> I think Saint John, Smith Square was great for our band.

First of all, it's wonderful acoustically.

I can hear everyone really, really well.

We love the reverberation.

But it was really neat to explain to the students the historical significance and being down in the catacombs where they could see the pictures of, unfortunately, the attacks that happened during World War II and how they were able to rebuild it.

It was -- I think it was really special for the kids, and knowing -- I think it went back to the 1700s, if I'm not mistaken.

So to play in that type of a hall with so much historical significance was really special.

>> Stewart Bailey is director of bands at the Carl Sandburg High School.

Here they are again with Malcolm Arnold's "Prelude, Siciliano & Rondo," movements 2 and 3.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] >> I think my favorite piece we played was probably "Prelude, Siciliano & Rondo," probably because that middle section is just a really beautiful lyrical section, and I -- Yeah, so, we got a lot of melody parts in there, so it was -- Yeah, so I think it was pretty beautiful.

>> For all of the students visiting these European venues, it's a very special adventure.

>> First, just the city was beautiful, the architecture was beautiful, and then, inside, the acoustics were great.

You know, there was this beautiful, you know, pipe organ in the back, so that was really cool to see.

venue just made our band sound really, really nice.

>> Well, for one, honestly, when I first came into marching band my freshman year, I had never, like, expected to go outside the country for band, let alone all the way to London for a performance like this.

So that by itself was already, like, a huge deal to me.

And, you know, like, just being there and, like, seeing all -- like, just seeing something so different from where I've been my entire life, I think that is something that can, like, make a person a lot more well-rounded, can just give a person a whole new outlook on how other people live and how other people experience things.

And I think that, by itself, is really cool.

And also, like, in terms of the future, it only excites me more as I, like, learn more experiences and get to try new things.

It only motivates me more to, like, you know, whenever I get the opportunity and I hear, "Oh, we're going to travel here, we're going to travel," like, I, start to get more interested, because I'm like, "Oh, there's a lot of cool things that you can get from just seeing how other people live."

We played in Saint John, Smith Square, which was kind of like a -- you know, it had a church feeling to it.

It was very, you know -- The architecture was very old, I felt like, but I kind of liked that, because, like, it was a huge contrast from, you know, where I live, where everything has been built in like the last 50 years or so.

So kind of that -- like, the difference, and, like, you can see, like, all the history on the walls and everything.

I thought that was really cool.

I thought, like, kind of being in there, performing in there -- You know, we've had cool venues that we've played in.

They're huge.

They have, you know, nice acoustics and sound and everything.

But there was nothing quite like being in a building that ancient with all that history in it.

>> Next, we're going to hear from Putnam City High School "Serenade for String Orchestra" by Norman Leyden.

First, we're going to hear the prelude, and then the fugue.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Now here's the Putnam City North High School Orchestra, and this is "The Wood Splitter Fanfare."

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] The Putnam City North High School, where Jeremy Scott is head director of orchestras.

>> Our concert set, we wanted to pick music that was really diverse and by each piece was very different so that we could demonstrate a variety of styles.

And I think we, picked even some pieces -- Like, our "Contrasts in E Minor" piece has a "James Bond" theme in it.

So we wanted to do that.

We also ended with "Oklahoma!"

in our inset and then "Wood Splitter Fanfare" and "Agincourt."

Both of those pieces have some exciting elements to it.

"Wood Splitter" has a really exciting opening that was good, and then "Agincourt has a lot of variety of rhythms, but also has some London themes in it.

And so we wanted to pick a variety of music.

>> Let's hear what some of the students thought about their visit to Europe.

>> So, it was my first trip going to London.

Compared to Oklahoma, it was very fast-paced, but everybody there was very considerate, considering just, like, how everything moves.

And then, overall, I just thought just the culture was very different, very traditional compared to Oklahoma.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] >> That was "Agincourt" by Doug Spata.

And to finish, we're going to hear "Contrasts in E Minor" by Francis L. Feese.

>> So, my favorite piece was "Contrasts in E Minor."

There's a bunch of different parts that the orchestra got to play together, and I like how it all came together just to make a very contrasting piece, like it says in the name.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] >> Whether they knew it or not, I think they take a lot from these experiences.

In the moment, they probably don't understand it, but at the end, when they look back, I think it makes their world a little bit of a smaller -- It opens the world up to them, and I think they're able to branch out and be more courageous in life because they've just got to experience another side of the world.

And I think it really opens up opportunities for them and creates leaders and more educated people and are excited to do things.

So I think it's a big opportunity for them.

>> Well, I do hope you've enjoyed seeing these talented young Americans performing in these wonderful European venues.

Thank you very much for watching.

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