Carnegie Hall Announces 2024 NYO-USA Participants

The prestigious summer orchestra program has selected over 100 musicians aged 16 to 19 from across 34 U.S. states

 

Launched in 2013 by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) is a free program for exceptional 16 to 19-year-old musicians from across the U.S. following a comprehensive and selective audition process. 

The program’s 2024 edition has selected 103 members — hailing from 34 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Of those selected, 15 musicians have previously played with NYO-USA. 

Additionally, 30 of the selected musicians gained experience through NYO2, a program for younger players ages 14 to 17, and one musician previously performed as part of NYO Jazz. 

NYO-USA’s musicians will travel to New York in late July for an intensive two-week training residency at Purchase College, State University of New York (SUNY). 

Mentors during the residency include James Ross, who returns to lead both NYO-USA and NYO2 as orchestra director, working closely with 2024 assistant conductors Tamara Dworetz and Carlos Ágreda. 

Two apprentice composers will also compose new works while collaborating with the American composer Sean Shepherd, who serves as the composition program director and will coach the apprentices.

Following the residency, NYO-USA will be led by conductor Marin Alsop for its annual Carnegie Hall concert on August 5, before embarking on a South American Tour, featuring performances with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and works such as Barber’s Symphony No. 1, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. 

Additionally, the orchestra will perform at Carnegie Hall’s new summer concert festival, the World Orchestra Week (WOW!) on August 1–7, 2024, which celebrates international youth orchestras. Five youth orchestras will travel to New York City, and will also participate massive play-in event for all 700 young musicians. 

During the event, NYO-USA and NYO2 will perform alongside the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela, Africa United Youth Orchestra, Beijing Youth Symphony Orchestra, European Union Youth Orchestra, and Afghan Youth Orchestra.

 

"We’re thrilled to announce the roster of remarkable young musicians who will join NYO-USA for this upcoming summer,” said Carnegie Hall’s Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson in the press release. “These superb players will come together to train with some of the leading professional musicians in the country. 

“They will have the opportunity to collaborate with [Alsop and Thibaudet], interact with peer musicians from across the globe as part of this summer’s historic WOW! festival, and perform on some of the finest stages across South America,” Gillinson added. “The members of NYO-USA will represent the best of America as musical performers and as cultural ambassadors, both in New York during the festival and on tour.”

For more on each 2024 NYO-USA member, click here. The full roster is listed below. 

 

NYO-USA 2024 Orchestra Roster:

* Prior NYO-USA member

+ Prior NYO2 member

^ Prior NYO Jazz member

 

Arizona

Lillie Harper, Viola (Fountain Hills)

Campbell Stewart, Percussion (Tucson)+

 

California

Joseph Yoo, Flute (Chino Hills)

Yuli Choi, Violin (Cupertino)+*

Benjamin Jiang, Cello (Elk Grove)+

Atom Paz, Violin (Fresno)

Natalie Kwok, Cello (Fullerton)+

Ariana Kim, Bassoon (Irvine)

Jaden (Minjae) Kim, Violin (Irvine)+*

Daniel De La Cruz, Viola (Laguna Niguel)*

Marvel Jem Roth, Apprentice Composer (Los Angeles)

Andrew Hwang, Viola (Palo Alto)

Jenna Seohyeong Kang, Violin (Palo Alto)*

Anika Gandhi, Apprentice Orchestra Manager (San Francisco)

Daniel Torrero, Bassoon (San Diego)

Roger Chen, Violin (San Jose)

Kayla Lee, Violin (San Jose)+

Tejas Tirthapura, Viola (Saratoga)*

Alvin Wang, Violin (Temple City)

Kara Wong, Viola (Tustin)+

Josephine Velez, Cello (Yorba Linda)+

 

Connecticut

Katherine Mombo, Violin (Southbury)+

 

Costa Rica

Julian Jimenez-Pardo, Percussion (San Jose)

 

Delaware

Gabriela Salvador Riera, Violin (Wilmington)

 

District of Columbia

Ricardo Cruz, Percussion (Washington)

 

Florida

Brandon Garcia, Bass (Miami)

Ella Marchetti, Bass (Tampa)+

Jeremiah La Fayette, Viola (Tampa)*

Nihar Bhavsar, Apprentice Orchestra Librarian (West Palm Beach)

 

Georgia

Didi Stone, Violin (Alpharetta)

Stephanie Kim, Flute (Atlanta)

Jaia Alli, Cello (Atlanta)

Anh Ho, Percussion (Lawrenceville)*

Ashley Na, Oboe (Suwanee)*

 

Idaho

Matias Vidal-Russell, Trombone (Boise)

 

Illinois

Maxine Gimbel, Bass (Oak Park)

 

Kansas

Christine Miller, Violin (Emporia)+

 

Kentucky

Joe Maiocco, Bass Trombone (Prospect)

 

Maryland

Olivia Cai, Violin (Ellicott City)+

Anna Hilderbrand, Violin (Mount Savage)

Kyle Cho, Oboe (Potomac)

Katherine Eunbee Song, Viola (Potomac)+

Katie Hwang, Viola (Rockville)

 

Massachusetts

Olivia Sunim Lee, Harp (Boston)

Ethan Kasparian Weisman, Clarinet (Lexington)

 

Michigan

Minji Kim, Violin (Ann Arbor)

 

Missouri

Anya Akhmadullina, Violin (Columbia)

Kristen Yu, Viola (Columbia)

 

Nebraska

Heike Lowe, Bass (Omaha)

 

New Jersey

Michelle Kwon, Cello (Closter)*

Nathan Spergel, Horn (Livingston)

Julie Kim, Violin (Northvale)

Iris Hur, Viola (Paramus)

Nicholas Hyunkun Yoo, Violin (Ramsey)+*

Tiffany Chang, Clarinet (Ridgewood)+

Sean Qin, Violin (Short Hills)+

 

New York

Shaw Edwards, Cello (Brooklyn)

Kaitlyn Choi, Oboe (Jericho)

Santiago Del Curto, Clarinet (Queens)+

Christopher LeDoux, Trumpet (Staten Island)+

Josephine Buruma, Viola (New York)

Ana Isabella España, Violin (New York)

Logan Lee, Violin (New York)

Diogo Muggiati-Feldman, Trumpet (New York)+*

Jaehyun Park, Violin (New York)+

Alex Robertson, Apprentice Composer (New York)

Jesse Schopflocher, Viola (New York)

 

North Carolina

Simon Vázquez-Carr, Bass (Durham)+

Gavin Hardy, Bass (Winston-Salem)+

Michael Stratford, Bass (Winston-Salem)

 

Oklahoma

Laura Pollack, Violin (Edmond)

Stephan Zhang, Violin (Stillwater)+

 

Ohio

Christy Kim, Violin (Mason)+

 

Oregon

Katie Liu, Violin (Portland)

Katelyn Nguyen, Bassoon (Portland)*

 

Pennsylvania

Aidan Peterson, Trumpet (Ardmore)

Rishab Das, Violin (Philadelphia)

Eunah Kim, Flute (Philadelphia)

Aaron Liu, Cello (Philadelphia)

 

Puerto Rico

Dylan Alvira Correa, Horn (Carolina)+

 

Rhode Island

Liam DeRosa, Viola (Cranston)

 

South Carolina

Devin O’Brien, Bass (Mount Pleasant)*

Cadence Shevy, Violin (Rock Hill)+

 

South Dakota

Jacob Pagone, Oboe (Sioux Falls)

 

Tennessee

Oscar E. Ruiz, Cello (Memphis)+

 

Texas

Noah Semsar, Trumpet (Austin)

Samuel Igbo, Violin (Boerne)+*

Brayden Rooks, Horn (Cibolo)

Osiel Cárdenas, Viola (Denton)

Leah Wu, Bassoon (Katy)+

Sydney Richardson, Horn (Longview)

Rufino Medado, Tuba (Portland)

Jackson Ingram, Horn (Richmond)

Mary Brook Hartmann, Cello (Sugar Land)

Ayi Ekhaese, Violin (Sugar Land)+*

Cade Carter, Violin (Tomball)

 

Virginia

Enzo Baldanza, Violin (Arlington)

Henry Price, Trombone (Arlington)^

Jayden Hunter Lee, Flute (McLean)

Tyler Anderson, Clarinet (Springfield)

 

Washington

Seohyun Hwang, Violin (Sammamish)

 

Wisconsin

Anaïs Griffith-Oh, Percussion (Madison)

Collin Runnoe, Cello (Milwaukee)