Since 2013, NYO-USA and its classical and jazz programs have hosted over 1,200 teen musicians, many of whom now play in major U.S. orchestras

 

This year, Carnegie Hall is celebrating 10 years since its launch of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), which provides free, audition-based intensive training and performances with industry professionals, nationally and abroad. 

Following the success of NYO-USA from 2013, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute introduced NYO2 in 2016, for artists aged 14 to 17. In 2018, NYO Jazz was formed for musicians aged 16 to 19 (the same age group as NYO-USA).

Over the last decade, the three ensembles have hosted 1,274 young musicians from all 50 U.S. states and toured 17 countries on four continents.

Currently, over 70 alums of the NYO-USA programs are playing in U.S. orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Seattle Symphony, among other professional ensembles.

The 2023 summer program comprises 220 musicians in NYO-USA, NYO2, and NYO Jazz, who will participate in a two-week training residency at the State University of New York’s (SUNY) Purchase College. This year’s participants represent 39 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. 

The NYO-USA and NYO2 programs will begin on July 1, 2023, while NYO Jazz players will begin their training on July 8, 2023 — the same day program alums from the past decade will reunite for celebratory events. The residency will include full ensemble rehearsals, sectional rehearsals, masterclasses, and private lessons.

Alongside appearances at Carnegie Hall, the young artists will tour across North America, the Dominican Republic, and Europe, where they will also serve as U.S. musical ambassadors and engage with the local musicians.

 

On July 14, 2023, NYO-USA and conductor Sir Andrew Davis will perform at Carnegie Hall, before embarking on a coast to coast North American tour — joined by guest solo violinists Gil Shaham and Hilary Hahn. The program comprises Valerie Coleman’s Giants of Light, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, and Barber and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concertos. 

Since 2013, the NYO-USA orchestras have featured in 36 radio, web, and TV broadcasts; presented 18 world premieres; and worked with over 40 guest artists, including Marin Alsop, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Kurt Elling, Sir Antonio Pappano, Dianne Reeves, Gil Shaham, Esperanza Spalding, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Alisa Weilerstein, among others.

Continuing this legacy, the NYO-USA’s 108 musicians will be performing the world premiere of Coleman’s Giants of Light, commissioned by Carnegie Hall, plus new works written by NYO-USA’s 2023 apprentice composers Lucy Chen and Lili Masoudi-Namazi.

The NYO-USA will be joined by Symphony Tacoma’s music director Sarah Ioannides as resident conductor, and other faculty, including violinist Ying Fu (National Symphony Orchestra), trombonist Kenneth Thompkins (Detroit Symphony Orchestra), harpist Jessica Zhou (Boston Symphony Orchestra), and more.

 

The 89 members of the 2023 roster for NYO2 represent 30 states, plus Puerto Rico. On July 15, 2023, they will perform at Carnegie Hall with conductor Joseph Young (making his Carnegie Hall debut) and guest solo violinist Jennifer Koh, who will also join NYO2’s first international tour to the Dominican Republic from July 17, 2023.

The program will include Bernstein’s “Three Dance Episodes” from On the Town, Sibelius’s Violin Concerto, plus selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. On tour, NYO2 will perform at the Teatro Nacional Eduardo Brito and the Gran Teatro del Cibao.

The ensemble will be joined by Alexandria Symphony Orchestra’s music director James Ross — returning for his 10th year as NYO2’s orchestra director —and other NYO2 faculty, including violinist Amy Oshiro Morales (Philadelphia Orchestra), trumpeter Tage Larson (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), and percussionist Marc Damoulakis (The Cleveland Orchestra). 

Notably, NYO2 has been studied for six years by researchers at the WolfBrown consultancy firm. Their 2022 published report explored the ensemble’s aims and practices for inclusivity in music. 

 

 

Led by artistic director and bandleader Sean Jones, the 2023 NYO Jazz band comprises 22 members. The second week of their residency will be hosted for the first time in Carnegie Hall’s Resnick Education Wing.

Following NYO Jazz’s Carnegie Hall performance on July 25, 2023 — led by Jones and featuring NEA Jazz Master and GRAMMY-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater — the group will begin a two-week European tour. 

Venues will include the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, Festival da Jazz in St. Moritz, London’s BBC Proms, Rheingau Musik Festival, and the Lucerne Festival.

Their 2023 program will include Jones’ new work “The 29ers,” commissioned by Carnegie Hall; arrangements from Terri Lynne Carrington’s “New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers;” big band works by Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Roy Hargrove; plus other pieces exploring jazz’s influence on hip-hop, R&B, and pop music. 

The NYO Jazz faculty comprises saxophonist Sharel Cassity, drummer Quincy Davis, trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt, bassist Mimi Jones, trombonist Javier Nero, pianist Helen Sung, Reginald Thomas, and guitarist Dan Wilson.

 

 

“We can’t wait to welcome NYO-USA, NYO2, and NYO Jazz for another extraordinary summer of music making,” said Carnegie Hall’s executive and artistic director, Clive Gillinson. “This summer is particularly special as it marks ten years since the creation of NYO-USA and the start of our national youth ensembles. I remember walking into the orchestra’s first rehearsal in 2013; within seconds, everybody was turning to each other and smiling because it already sounded so incredible. 

“Without exception, players who have taken part in NYO tell us that the experience is transformational,” Gillinson added. “We look forward to another summer of nurturing the talents of the finest teen musicians from across America and inspiring them to take their playing to even higher levels as they prepare to share their love of music with audiences at Carnegie Hall and worldwide as the finest possible music ambassadors for their country.” 

A short video on the 10-year anniversary of NYO-USA’s launch, can be viewed below.