Student chosen for Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
For the second year in a row, Nantucket New School student Nicholas Davies has been selected as a member of the prestigious Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. He was chosen from more than 705 auditioning children, the highest number competing in the orchestra's 50 year history.

Nicholas, Elizabeth and Sophie Davies. ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent

Last year Davies, an accomplished clarinetist, performed at the age of 13 in the all winds orchestra, called The Preparatory Wind Ensemble, and also played cello in The Young People's String Orchestra. At this juncture, Davies is well on his way to advancing to the Repertory Orchestra and then the Senior Repertory Orchestra.

"I was mildly surprised because I hadn't ever tried out for an orchestra before, and when I did get in I was very happy about it. I really enjoy classical music, so I wanted to stay with the orchestra," Davies said of his initial acceptance and desire to continue the experience this year. He is considering the symphony as a career. "I was very happy I have advanced enough to be accepted in the second orchestra. It's quite a big step. I was happy to see I've progressed a good deal over two years."

Davies said he began playing instruments at the age of eight. Though he wanted to start with the saxophone, his lungs were not yet fully developed. The clarinet was a good fit for his physical ability, and he liked the sound.

Being accepted as one of the 440 youth orchestra members carries plenty of responsibility. Except for a break from mid-June to September, the musicians must attend regular Sunday rehearsals at the orchestra's residence in the College of Fine Arts at Boston University. Davies and his mother, Elizabeth, usually travel from Nantucket to Boston on Sunday mornings and return Sunday night so rehearsals do not interfere with Davies' school schedule.

"At the start it was a big deal but it's more of a routine now," he said.

The rehearsals are important to ensure that the students are well prepared for performances. On January 20 they presented Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" in Sanders Hall at Harvard University. Upcoming performances will take place at Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall at the New England

................... Conservatory, Sanders Theatre and the Tsai Performance Center at Boston University. This spring they will perform with cellist Yo Yo Ma and in June will give concerts in Germany and the Czech Republic.

"I'm very proud. When you see them performing at Symphony Hall it's just sensational," said his father Wayne Davies, who moved to the island from Australia in January 2006 with his wife, Elizabeth, Nicholas and Nicholas's sister, Sophie, 11, who plays the flute and also is a Nantucket New School student. "He's always been musically inclined. My wife and I can't hold a tune."

Davies, who has already written some original compositions and wants to develop that talent, said he thinks rather than his parents being musically 'hopeless' they are simply being modest about their own abilities.

"It was an accident how [Nicholas] fell into the whole thing. I took piano lessons and I tried to teach myself guitar, but I can't clap in time," said Elizabeth Davies. "When we lived in Australia he was encouraged to enroll in

music class and his talent

emerged. One day he came ................... home with a cello." I