Each summer, Carnegie Hall's Weill Music institute brings together more than 100 of the brightest young musicians, ages 16–19, from across the US 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, SUNY, with 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 famed conductor Valery Gergiev and renowned violinist Joshua Bell for enthusiastic audiences in Washington, DC; Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia; and at the BBC Proms in London. The 2014 orchestra, led by dynamic American conductor David Robertson with virtuoso violinist Gil Shaham as soloist, made its debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City and completed a coast-to-coast US tour, with stops at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California.
In 2015, NYO-USA embarks on a historic tour of China, collaborating with conductor Charles Dutoit and pianist YUNDI. The tour has been designated by the US Department of State as one of the Cultural Pillars of the most recent US–China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange. After a concert at Carnegie Hall, the tour takes NYO-USA to major performing arts centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong.
Visit carnegiehall.org/nyousa for more information.
