To the Beat: The National Youth Orchestra's Spring tour, featuring Jennifer Higdon's Percussion Concerto with Jordan Ashman

The National Youth Orchestra's Spring tour, To the Beat

The National Youth Orchestra's Spring tour, To the Beat, kicks off at Birmingham Town Hall on 14 April 1014. Taking in Birmingham, the Roundhouse in London (15 April), Sheffield City Hall (16 April) and Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (18 April), the orchestra will be conducted by Paolo Bortolameolli and Joana Carneiro.

The programme features the Percussion Concerto written by American composer Jennifer Higdon with soloist Jordan Ashman. Ashman is an alumnus of NYO Inspire and won the 2022 BBC Young Musician Grand Final with his performance of Higdon's Percussion Concerto.

Higdon's concerto was written in 2005 for percussionist Colin Currie and dedicated to him. The work features a large battery of instruments, from vibraphone and marimba (a favourite instrument of dedicatee Colin Currie), to non-pitched smaller instruments (brake drum, wood blocks, Peking Opera gong), and to the drums themselves.

Alongside this work the orchestra plays the 1947 version of Stravinsky's ballet, Petrushka, and Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein's 1960 suite from the 1957 musical. The original musical was orchestrated by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, and it was they who prepared the expanded orchestration of the suite, under Bernstein's supervision.

Tickets for all performances are free for teenages. Full details of To the Beat from the National Youth Orchestra's website.

Meet the class of 2025: National Youth Orchestra's Illuminate tour with Ravel, Nielsen and Anna Thorvaldsdottir

National Youth Orchestra

The National Youth Orchestra (NYO) opens 2025 with its Illuminate tour, when Jaime Martin will conduct the teenage musicians in Ravel's Bolero, Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Catamorphosis and Nielsen's Symphony No. 4 'Inextinguishable', with concerts at the Barbican (4 January 2025), Warwick Arts Centre (5 January) and Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (6 January). Tickets are free for teenagers, as part of NYO's mission to ensure there are no barriers to young people experiencing the power of live orchestral music.

48% of the Orchestra of 2025, including NYO Associates, came through NYO Inspire, a free programme for young people who want music to be a bigger part of their lives but face barriers and lack of opportunity to progress. NYO Associates are identified during the audition process, as musicians who would thrive from the opportunity to broaden their musical experience with the Orchestra.

52% of Orchestra and NYO Associate musicians come from state schools and 35% are Black, Asian and  ethnically diverse, making the Orchestra is a reflection of the diversity and potential of young people across the UK. For the 2025 season, 50% of leadership roles within the Orchestra are held by female musicians. In a historic achievement, half of the leadership positions in the Brass section are also now held by female musicians, marking a significant step toward gender parity in a traditionally male-dominated area.

Through collaborations with local music hubs and schools, NYO continues to create new opportunities for young musicians, bringing orchestral music into every region and community. This year, NYO musicians will take their role as changemakers to their local communities, with each of them leading a workshop in their local primary school. Each musician will conduct a workshop, sharing the transformative power of orchestral music with the primary school pupils in their communities. Alongside the NYO Inspire programme, NYO provides free performances and workshops in schools, youth spaces and music hubs across the country.

More about the 2025 Orchestra at the NYO website, along with full details of the NYO's performances.

Celebrate & share the joy of orchestral music: NYO celebrates 10 years of NYO Inspire with As One

NYO Side by Side in Liverpool

42% of schools in England no longer enter any pupils for Music GCSE, and the number of pupils opting to do Music at A-Level has fallen by 45% between 2010 and 20232. There has been a 15% decline in children learning an instrument and 80% of young people believe more should be done to get their generation into orchestral music.

For ten years, NYO Inspire, the National Youth Orchestra's (NYO) scheme to encourage young people to play an instrument and discover the joys of orchestra music, has put members of the orchestra in the community inspiring their peers. To celebrate this anniversary, launching As One to connect young people across the UK by inspiring them to pick up an instrument and play music together.

Participants from NYO Inspire will embark on a national school tour for the first time, NYO will engage with music educators across the country to ensure every young person has the opportunity to play music together. And members of the 160-person Orchestra will play their part sharing the joy of live performance at primary schools in their local community.

NYO will welcome aspiring musicians from across the UK to join them for their performance at this year’s BBC Proms on Saturday 10 August 2024.

Over the last ten years, NYO Inspire has supported 5,000 young people to make music a bigger part of their lives. Last year, 82% of participants were state school educated and 41% were Black, Asian or ethnically diverse. Many musicians go on to secure a place in the Orchestra with NYO Inspire alumni making up 39% of the current Orchestra.

The National Youth Orchestra will play at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on 7 August, at Saffron Hall in Essex on 9 August and finally at the BBC Proms in London on 10 August. They will perform Wagner’s Overture to The Flying Dutchman, Missy Mazzoli’s Orpheus Undone and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, alongside a new piece by Dani Howard which celebrates As One, conducted by Alexandre Bloch and Tess Jackson. Tickets for the performances at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and Saffron Hall in Essex will be completely free for teenagers. This forms part of NYO’s key strategy to provide opportunities for young people to experience orchestral music together.

Further information from the NYO website.

Energy, discipline, control and sheer love of music-making: National Youth Orchestra and National Youth Brass Band in Gavin Higgins, Dani Howard, Prokofiev, Julius Eastman and more

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Jessica Cottis

Catalyst: Coleridge-Taylor, Julius Eastman, Gavin Higgins, Dani Howard, Prokofiev; National Youth Brass Band and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Tess Jackson, Jessica Cottis; Royal Festival Hall
Reviewed 14 April 2024

From Julius Eastman's creative provocation in the Clore Ballroom to the stupendous combined brass band and orchestra in Higgins new piece, an astonishing day of music making full of energy, discipline, control and sheer love of music-making 

Under the catch-all title of Catalyst, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain arrived at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday 14 April 2024 and filled the building with music. During the afternoon, there was a side-by-side performance with local school children of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Ballade in the Clore Ballroom, as part of the orchestra's outreach programmes. Then before the main concert members of the main concert, members of the orchestra gathered in the Clore Ballroom for a performance of Julius Eastman's Stay on It. The main concert featured the National Youth Orchestra and National Youth Brass Band in Gavin Higgins' Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra, conducted by Tess Jackson, and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, conducted by Jessica Cottis. The second half opened with a short fanfare by Dani Howard involving all the brass performers from both ensembles.

National Youth Orchestra & National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain (Photo: Chris Chris Christodoulou)

Ascent: National Youth Orchestra in Strauss' Alpine Symphony, Debussy & a new work by Dani Howard

National Youth Orchestra

The youth musicians of the National Youth Orchestra return in January 2024 for three concerts, under the direction of Sir Mark Elder, with the title Ascent. Elder will be conducting the orchestra in concerts at London's Barbican Centre (4 January 2024) when the concert will also be live streamed, Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall (5 January 2024) and Warwick Arts Centre (6 January 2024). The programme consists of Richard Strauss' massive Alpine Symphony, Debussy's Rondes de Printemps and a new work by Dani Howard for the NYO's brass and percussion sections.  

The orchestra isn't just about training the young musicians who play in it, but about inspiring teenagers all over. To this end, all the concerts have free tickets for those aged 19 and under, thus encouraging everyone to come and try the magic. The NYO has other initiatives, such as NYO Inspire for teenagers who want music to be a bigger part of their lives but face barriers and lack of opportunity to progress, and NYO Open, to encourage teenagers from all backgrounds to make more of music.

Full details from the NYO website.

The National Youth Orchestra is coming to Lancaster and seeking young musicians to join in

The National Youth Orchestra's free NYO Inspire programme is for teenagers who want to make music, and playing with others, a bigger part of their lives and is aimed at promoting equality in music education, prioritising those with the greatest need for a place.

This October, the National Youth Orchestra is bringing together the musicians from NYO Inspire and the NYO orchestra for NYO Unite, a series of day long music making activities across the UK. On 28 October, they are heading to Lancaster to work with NYO tutors and conductor, Constança Simas to explor. Aaron Copland’s Rodeo. 

In partnership with the Lancashire Music Hub, The National Youth Orchestra is also inviting local musicians to get creative and discover new sounds together at an NYO Open event on 28 October. Local musicians aged 11-18 (KS3 or above) and who play an instrument at Grade 3 level or above, will have the chance to explore music and have fun playing together. With the NYO creative team and alumni, they will take inspiration from Copland's Rodeo and play their part in creating a new piece with other teenagers.

The day will culminate in a sharing performance to friends and family, featuring NYO Unite musicians performing Rodeo and the premiere of the new piece created by the young people participating in the NYO Inspire open event.

Full details from the NYO website.

A festival of youthful music making: the National Youth Orchestra on cracking form for their immersive NYO Ignite programme

Stravinsky: The Firebird - National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Andrew Gourlay - Royal Festival Hall (Photo Mark Allen)

NYO Ignite - Jessie Montgomery, Judith Weir, Andy Akiho, Simon Dobson, Stravinsky: The Firebird; National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Andrew Gourlay; Southbank Centre
Reviewed 15 April 2023

A richly luxuriant account Stravinky's The Firebird performed with remarkable finesse crowns a remarkably immersive evening with superb performances all round from the young players

The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain's evening at the Southbank Centre on Saturday 15 April 2023 began in the foyer at 7pm and the music was still continuing there as we left at 10pm. Notionally, we were there to hear Andrew Gourlay conduct a programme that mixed four contemporary pieces, Jessie Montgomery's Source Code, Judith Weir's Fresh Air, Simon Dobson's Incandenza, and Andy Akiho's Karakurenai, with Stravinsky's complete ballet, The Firebird. But there was a lot else besides in a festival of youthful music making

Deborah Henson-Conant: Baroque Flamenco - NYO Harps - Clore Ballroom (Photo Mark Allen)

There were two performing groups, the 150-plus players of the NYO itself and the eleven NYO Associates (part of the NYO Inspire programme), this latter group playing a series of pieces that they had devised themselves. We began in the Clore Ballroom, with a remarkably coordinated series of performances showcasing the various sections of the NYO.

The members of NYO brass began things with Ignite, a fanfare devised by the NYO musicians, and then some of the strings played the third movement of Bacewicz's Concerto for string orchestra (conducted by Constanca Simas, who conducted all the large ensemble pieces in the foyer), a performance that made you wish we were hearing the whole work. Then it was the turn of the NYO's four harps in Deborah Henson-Conant's wonderfully engaging Baroque Flamenco. Adam Gorb's Omaggio a Giovanni from the brass, was an homage to Giovanni Gabrieli, the older composer's music drifting in and out of focus in a work that was perhaps slightly too quietly sophisticated for a noisy foyer. The engaging gavotte from Richard Strauss' Suite for Woodwind, and a second group of strings in Sammy Singh's Flippen completed the foyer entertainment, and finally, Drum Line, a drum piece devised by NYO musicians, led the audience into the Royal Festival Hall. This latter process took some time, and whilst we filed in the NYO Associates played their devised piece Spring Way Back, eventually joined by members of the orchestra.

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain launches Winter tour with orchestra featuring 50% members from state-education

The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain begins its Winter tour tomorrow (4 January 2023) at the Barbican Centre, the first of four concerts with appearances at Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham (6/1/2023), Warwick Arts Centre (7/1/2023) and Liverpool Philharmonic (8/1/2023). Alexandre Bloch conducts the 156 teenagers in Britten's Four Sea Interludes, Anna Clyne's Rift and Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra. There are free tickets for teenagers at every concert, and the Barbican concert will be live-streamed as part of the Live from the Barbican series.

This year's orchestra is admirably diverse, 50% of the orchestra are from state-education and a further 16% are members of the Department for Education's Music and Dance scheme, attending specialist music schools. Female and non-binary musicians take 61% of leadership positions across the orchestra, and 29% are Black, Asian or ethnically diverse - the teenagers come from every region in the UK. 

The way the orchestra's own efforts in achieving diversity have paid dividends is reflected in the fact that 42% of the 2023 orchestra have progressed from NYO Inspire. NYO Inspire is the orchestra's programme to provide ensemble opportunities exclusively for communities that are underrepresented in the world of orchestral music. In this way, the orchestra and its players seek to change the fabric of the orchestral sector from the ground up, investing in and engaging with those with limited access to musical experience. Following the tour, the young musicians will embark on Play the School projects in secondary schools in Oldham - performing and working with the pupils, showcasing their creative music-making.

Full details from the orchestra's website.

Runnning Riot! The first of a series of films from the musicians of National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain features Gabriela Ortiz' Téenek

During the Spring residency, musicians from the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO) recorded a series of performances of the boundary-breaking music in their Open Up: Running Riot! programme. They went beyond just playing in the orchestra and took a lead in interviewing their role models and engaging the audience with creative insights into the pieces, which include Gabriela Ortiz' Téenek, Dinuk Wijeratne's Concerto for Tabla & Orchestra, as well as a riotous performance of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

The results can be seen on the orchestra's YouTube channel, with a new video premiered every Wednesday evening in October. Episode 1 was released on Wednesday and features Gabriela Ortiz Téenek, including an interview with Gabriela herself, interviewed by NYO musicians, Connie and Aidan.

See the video on YouTube.

Open Up & Let Loose! - National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain at Barbican and Warwick Arts Centre

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

Under the theme of Open Up & Let Loose! the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO) is presenting two concerts in January 2022, at the Barbican and at Warwick Arts Centre. Conducted by Sian Edwards and Andrew Gourlay, the concerts will feature Canadian-American composer Karim Al-Zand's City Scenes (Three Urban Dances), Dani Howard's Coalescence (commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra to open their 2019/20 season), Thomas Adès' Dawn (Chacony For Orchestra At Any Distance) (premiered at the 2020 BBC Proms by the London Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle), and American composer Gabriela Lena Frank's Three Latin American Dances alongside Ravel's La Valse and Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances.

The teenage musicians of NYO come from all over the UK, and from very different backgrounds, 55% of the orchestra is made up of musicians in state schools and 48% of leadership positions across the orchestra are occupied by female and non-binary musicians. And the orchestra is trying to open up the concert experience in other ways too, with free tickets for under-19s.

Further details from Barbican and Warwick Arts Centre website.

The musicians of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain invite us to come together for a performance of 'Jupiter' from Holsts 'The Planets'

Following the success of the communal (socially-distanced) performance of Beethoven's Ode to Joy (#NYOdetojoy), the musicians of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain are inviting musicians of all standards to share a performance of 'Jupiter' from Holst's The Planets on 29 May 2020 at 5pm. The musicians are looking to inspire others in their local communities, and to make genuine connections through performance using Holst’s rousing ‘Jupiter’ – either putting together a street ensemble, or performing alone somewhere significant to their local area.

The orchestra is asking that every performance, whether physical or digital, be shared using the hashtag #NYOMusicalPlanet, so everyone who takes part can share in the diversity and individuality across our incredible musical planet.

Full details and resources from musicians from the orchestra's website.

Beyond Beethoven Nine: Marin Alsop and the National Youth Orchestra's Beethoven celebration goes on-line

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

From 16-18 April 2020, the Southbank Centre was supposed to be hosting Beyond Beethoven Nine, a mass-participation project hosted by conductor Marin Alsop and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO). So instead, the weekend will be marked by a series of on-line events as well as a socially distanced orchestra, and throughout the weekend the Southbank Centre website will be amplifying the content.

On 16 April at 7.30pm, BBC Radio 3 will broadcast an archive performance of NYO performing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at the 2013 BBC Proms, then on 17 April at 5pm, every musician in the UK is invited to join in a truly national live performance from their doorsteps, on their balconies, or out their windows, playing as a socially distanced orchestra. Led by the 164 NYO musicians, they invite everyone to share a heartfelt performance of the 'Ode to Joy', dedicated to people who need it the most: our frontline NHS staff, key workers, isolated family members, or friends struggling with loneliness.

On 18 April, in partnership with the Southbank Centre, NYO musicians will be sharing video performances of the music that brings them the most joy, and connects with the most people, in response to a call out from conductor Marin Alsop, as part of the Beyond Beethoven Nine digital activity. These will be shared online by NYO and by the Southbank Centre. TS Eliot prize-nominated British-born Cypriot poet, Anthony Anaxagorou will be offering a digital reading of his poem O Human, which was originally commissioned as the new libretto for Beyond Beethoven Nine in place of Schiller’s famous An die Freude 'Ode to Joy' poem.

Further details from the NYO website,  and the Southbank Centre website.

NYO 2019

The National Youth Orchestra at the Proms with George Benjamin

The 2019 intake of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain will be gathering in December 2018 to rehearse with Kirill Karabits, chief conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, preparing a programme which includes John Adams's Doctor Atomic Symphony, Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 and a new arrangement of Rick Dior’s Science Fiction. 

Dior's piece was originally written for percussion and electronics and designed to be performed alongside a film montage of science-fiction film clips. For NYO the work has been specially re-orchestrated and will be performed alongside a film projection featuring sci-fi movie scenes. 

Karabitts and the orchestra will be touring the programme to Warwick Arts Centre (4 January), London’s Barbican (5 January) and Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall (7 January). 

The orchestra's 2019 programme also includes taking part in the world premiere of a new “National Anthem” written by British Indian musician Nitin Sawhney, and a programme of Gerswhin, Copland and Mexican composers with the Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. The orchestra is also planning its first American tour which will include a performance at Carnegie Hall, with conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada in a programme of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto performed by Nicola Benedetti and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.

The 2019 orchestra will consist of 164 young players, and 53 of these have taken part in the NYO Inspire programme, including NYO 2019 Leader Kynan Walker, aged 16 from Birmingham. NYO Inspire, which provides targeted pathways for musicians from state school and BAME backgrounds, in 2019 will see NYO musicians will volunteer over 1,000 hours of their time, engaging with 1,000 teenage musicians.
"Before taking part in NYO Inspire I had no intention of pursuing a music career, nor did I ever think I’d achieve a place in NYO. The incredible tutoring I received through the programme and the musicians I met opened my eyes and inspired me to work harder and aim higher. I am thrilled to achieve the role of NYO Leader in 2019 and it would not have been possible without the countless opportunities NYO Inspire has given me." - Kynan Walker, Leader of NYO 2019 


NYO 2019 comprises 52% from the state sector, an increase on 2018, and 17% from specialist music schools – of which 99% are on government bursaries. 19% of musicians identify as non-white which is ahead of the 14.1% national average. 

Full details from the NYO website.

Unleashing the NYO at 70: Bernstein and more in London and Birmingham

The National Youth Orchestra (NYO) of Great Britain is now, amazingly, 70 and the orchestra and its players are as busy as ever. 6 and 7 April 2018 see the NYO joining with Chineke! Junior Orchestra for performances of Leonard Bernstein's theatre-piece Mass, conducted by Marin Alsop with Paulo Szolo as the Celebrant at the South Bank Centre (further details from the South Bank Centre website).

But the NYO is about far more than just performing, in 2018 164 NYO Musicians will volunteer over 1000 days as peer leaders, and engage with 10,000 young people, working side-by-side, empowered by their skills and experience to inspire others, thereby redefining what it is to be a member of a national ensemble with increasing capability for social action. In April, the NYO will be dividing into two ensembles so that in parallel with the Bernstein performances, NYO will be giving 'Unleashed' concerts by teenagers for teenagers, including UK premiere of James Newton Howard's The Hunger Games Suite, and John Williams music from Star Wars conducted by Kwamé Ryan in London and in Birmingham.