National Youth Orchestra of USA
Introduction
Each summer, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute brings together 120 of the brightest young musicians, aged 16-19, from across the United States to form the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA). Following a comprehensive audition process and a two-week training residency at Purchase College, State University of New York, with a faculty made-up of principal players from top American orchestras, these remarkable teenagers embark on a tour to some of the great music capitals of the world, serving as dynamic musical ambassadors.
Launched in summer 2013 to great critical acclaim, the first-ever NYO-USA presented concerts with conductor Valery Gergiev and renowned violinist Joshua Bell for enthusiastic audiences in Washington DC; Moscow and St Petersburg; and at the BBC Proms, London. The New York Times remarked: “The performance exuded vitality and confidence.”
Since the inaugural tour in partnership with Askonas Holt the Orchestra has toured the USA, Europe, South America and Asia.
Tours
- Aug 2024 - Aug 2024NYO USA | South America | August 2024
Marin Alsop Jean-Yves Thibaudet Programme: Symphony No.1, Barber, Rhapsody in Blue, Gershwin, Symphony No.5, Rimsky-Korsakov Auditorio Nacional del Sodre Montevideo | Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires | Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro | Sala Sao Paulo
- Jul 2023NYO USA | North America | July 2023
Sir Andrew Davis Gil Shaham (violin*) Hilary Hahn (violin) Programme 1: Coleman Giants of Light [Commission by Carnegie Hall], Barber Violin Concerto*, Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique Programme 2: Coleman Giants of Light [Commission by Carnegie Hall], Barber Violin Concerto, Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique Groton Hill Music Centre* | Carnegie Hall, New York* | Lanaudiere Festival, Montreal* | Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville | Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas | Walk Festival Hall, Jackson Hole* | Bing Amphitheater, Stanford* | Rady Shell, San Diego*
- Aug 2022NYO USA | Europe | August 2022
Daniel Harding Alisa Weilerstein (cello) Programme: Elgar Cello Concerto, Mahler Symphony No.5 Concertgebouw, Amsterdam | Young Euro Classics, | Ravello Festival | Lucerne Festival
- Aug 2019NYO USA | Europe | August 2019
Sir Antonio Pappano Joyce Didonato (mezzo soprano) Magdalena Kožená (mezzo soprano*) Programme 1: Davis Delicate Tension, Berlioz Les Nuits d'ete, Prokofiev Symphony No.5 Programme 2: Beckman Occidentalis, Berlioz Les Nuits d'ete, Strauss An Alpine Symphony Programme 3: Beckman Occidentalis, Berlioz Les Nuits d'ete, Prokofiev Symphony No.5 YoungEuro Classics, Berlin* | Edinburgh International Festival | BBC Proms | Concertgebouw, Amsterdam | Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg
- Jul 2018 - Aug 2018NYO USA | Asia | July-August 2018
Michael Tilson Thomas Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano) Programme: Hearne Brass Tacks, Gershwin Piano Concerto in F major, Sibelius Symphony No.2 National Concert Hall, Taiwan | Shanghai Symphony Hall | National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing | Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul | Daejeon Culture and Arts Center
- Jul 2017NYO USA | South America | July 2017
Marin Alsop Lina Gonzales-Granados (conductor, programme 2) James Ross (conductor, programme 2) Programme 1: Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Frank Apu:Tone Poem for Orchestra, Mahler Symphony No.1 Programme 2: (with Orquestra Sinfonica Juvenil de Guadalajara) Gerswhin Cuban Overture, Ginastera Estancia, Frank Latin American Dances, Bizet Carmen Suite No.1, Redmond Silhouette, Bernstein West Side Story: Somewhere, Marquez Conga del Fuego Nuevo Auditorio Telmex, Guadalajara | Auditorio Telmex, Quito | Teatro Sucre, Bogota
- Jul 2016NYO USA | Europe | July 2016
Valery Gergiev Denis Matsuev (piano) Debussy Prélude à “l'après-midi d'un faune”, Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3, Prokofiev Symphony No.4, Prokofiev Romeo and Juliette Selections Concertgebouw, Amsterdam | Musee Fabre, Montpellier | Tivoli Konzerthalle, Copenhagen | Smetana Hall, Prague
- Jul 2015NYO USA | Asia | July 2015
Charles Dutoit YUNDI (piano) Programme: Tan Dun Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds, Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing | Shanghai Oriental Arts Center | Suzhou Culture and Arts Center | Xi'an Concert Hall | Shenzhen Concert Hall | Xinghai Concert Hall, Guangzhou | Hong Kong Cultural Center
Photos
Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestras tour USA, Europe and Dominican Republic
This year marks the ninth year of the collaboration between Askonas Holt and Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestras. This summer sees tours with the NYO-USA, as well as with NYO Jazz, and NYO2, a programme for younger musicians with a focus on recruiting members from backgrounds currently underrepresented in Classical music.
In this, their tenth anniversary year, the NYO-USA embarks on an eight-date tour across the USA, kicking off this evening in Massachusetts at Groton Hill Music Center. They follow this tomorrow with a performance at Carnegie Hall before heading across the border to Montréal for the Festival de Lanaudière on the weekend. The tour also includes performances in Nashville, Dallas, and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming before finishing in California with appearances at Stanford and in San Diego. With conductor Sir Andrew Davis and soloists Gil Shaham and Hilary Hahn, the orchestra will perform Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique alongside a new work by Valerie Coleman and violin concerti by Tchaikovsky and Barber.
The first international tour for NYO2 takes them south next week for two performances in the Dominican Republic. In addition to concerts at Teatro Nacional Eduardo Brito in Santo Domingo and at the Gran Teatro del Cibao in Santiago, the ensemble will give relaxed evening performances for local residents at Club Hemingway in Juan Dolio. They are joined by conductor Joseph Young and violinist Jennifer Koh for a programme that includes Bernstein’s On the Town, Sibelius’s Violin Concerto and Prokofiev’s Suite from Romeo & Juliet. For the concert in Santo Domingo, the orchestra teams up with local children from the National Conservatory of Music and the Festiband Orchestra.
Formed in 2018, NYO-Jazz has been touring with Askonas Holt since their inception. This summer, the ensemble heads across the pond for performances at Europe’s major summer festivals including debuts at the BBC Proms, Lucerne Festival, Festival da Jazz St Moritz and Rheingau Musikfest, as well as returns to Konzerthaus Berlin and Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Led by Artistic Director Sean Jones, NYO Jazz is joined by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Dee Dee Bridgewater for a collection of jazz standards.
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