Carnegie Hall Announces Young Musicians Selected for Inaugural NYO2

Carnegie Hall today announced the names of the 78 young musicians selected from across the country for the inaugural season of NYO2, a two-week, intensive summer program for outstanding American instrumentalists ages 14-17, which begins on June 18, 2016. NYO2 is an extension of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), a program for musicians ages 16-19, launched by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute in the summer of 2013 to great acclaim. Both NYO-USA and NYO2 are free to all participants.

The members of the 2016 NYO2 orchestra-hailing from 27 US states as well as Puerto Rico-have been recognized by Carnegie Hall as exceptionally talented players. See below or click here for the names, instruments, and hometowns of the members of NYO2 2016.

Running in conjunction with NYO-USA's annual summer residency at Purchase College, State University of New York (SUNY), NYO2 has been established with a special focus on attracting talented young musicians from communities underserved by, and underrepresented in, the classical orchestral field. This new program, in partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra, aims to expand the pool of young musicians across the country equipped with the tools to succeed at the highest level, particularly those who will bring greater diversity to classical orchestral music or those who have not had access to highly selective training opportunities. Like NYO-USA, NYO2 musicians were selected following a comprehensive online audition process. In addition, Carnegie Hall asked high school educators and local youth orchestra directors for nominations of potential NYO2 candidates who would most benefit from focused training and participation in an inspiring community of their peers in order to take their playing to the next level.

"Following the success of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, we are thrilled to launch NYO2," said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall's Executive and Artistic Director. "In time, we think that the training, inspiration, and access provided by a national program like this can help to expand the range and diversity of young people considering careers in the classical music field. We are delighted to be collaborating on this initiative with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Carnegie Hall's longtime artistic partner. Together, we hope to empower these talented young players to further develop their musicianship and use music to connect with audiences and people everywhere."

This summer, NYO2 will be led by renowned conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, Music Director of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. As a central part of this free program, NYO2 musicians will have the opportunity to work closely with select members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, an organization with its own deep commitment to education and artist training, thanks to a new partnership formed between Carnegie Hall and the orchestra. (See below for complete list of NYO2 faculty.)

"We are honored to be working in partnership with Carnegie Hall on a project that is at the very heart of what we both believe in-mentorship, access, and exceptional opportunities for artists and citizens of the future," said Philadelphia Orchestra President and CEO Allison Vulgamore. "We will build on the Orchestra's recently-announced HEAR initiative in both education and access to help bring the program to life in Philadelphia, providing opportunities for young Philadelphia musicians to interact with NYO2's aspiring musicians and for NYO2 musicians to experience our city and its rich cultural community."

In addition to coaching sessions with Philadelphia Orchestra members during their training residency at Purchase College, NYO2 musicians will have side-by-side opportunities with their peers in NYO-USA as well as access to individual instruction and workshops designed to cultivate arts leadership skills to enable them to serve their communities through music.

The finale of the NYO2 musicians' 2016 season will be a weekend in Philadelphia from July 1-4, highlighted by a free concert at Verizon Hall on Saturday, July 2 (time is to be announced). Mr. Guerrero will lead NYO2 in a program to include Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien, Op. 45, and Respighi's Pines of Rome in an exciting side-by-side performance with The Philadelphia Orchestra. The evening will also include Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra. Information on how to obtain tickets to the July 2 concert as well as additional details on NYO2's Philadelphia visit will be announced later this spring.

NYO2
2016 Orchestra Roster

Alaska

Alex Apicella, Violin(Fairbanks)

Arizona

Chase Lee, Violin(Laveen)

Carissa Powe, Violin(Tucson)

Levi Samuel Nathan Powe, Cello(Tucson)

California

Josue Chavez, Trumpet(Los Angeles)

John A. Gonzalez, Bassoon(Los Angeles)

David Green, Trumpet(Santa Rosa)

Joel Kim, Viola(Northridge)

Sean Loveland, Violin(Los Angeles)

Javier Morales-Martinez, Clarinet(Los Angeles)

Hector Ponce, Bass(San Jose)

Brenda Wong, Viola(San Gabriel)

Edwina Xiong, Viola(Diamond Bar)

Diego Zamalloa-Chion, Violin(Kensington)

Katherine Zhu, Violin(San Diego)

Florida

Sophia Jean, Flute(Lakeland)

Mikhail Marasigan, Clarinet(Miami)

Ethan S. Olaguibel, Bass(Miami)

Jiddu Vega, Violin(Miami)

Georgia

Kyle Favors, Timpani/Percussion(Atlanta)

Quentell Gipson III, Tuba(Stone Mountain)

Melodie Spencer, Violin(Albany)

Hawaii

Jou Kim, Violin(Honolulu)

Idaho

Drew M. Stanley, Horn(Idaho Falls)

Illinois

Steven Baloue, Viola(Chicago)

Ella Bondar, Cello(Chicago)

Sean Edwards, Timpani/Percussion(Chicago)

Angelica Lorenzo, Timpani/Percussion(Chicago)

Kentucky

Ntinyari Miriti, Bassoon(Lexington)

Nicholas Recktenwald, Trumpet(Louisville)

Maryland

Tracie Kwon, Flute(Germantown)

Vincent Igusa, Bassoon(Baltimore)

Kara Poling, Oboe(Reisterstown)

Sooah Sohn, Violin(Clarksburg)

Michigan

Zak Rahal, Trombone(Plymouth)

Mississippi

Lydia Evangeline Newton, Violin(Moss Point)

Missouri

Adam Barker, Violin(Spokane)

J. David Eulentrop Jr., Viola(Winfield)

New Jersey

Juliette Duguid, Viola(Westfield)

Kingston Ho, Violin(New Providence)

Parker Jones, Horn(Bergenfield)

Gregory Llewellyn, Cello(Englewood)

Valerie Mun, Violin(Old Tappan)

New York

Che Buford, Violin(Brooklyn)

Joshua Cai, Viola(Mount Sinai)

Epongue Ekille, Violin(Rochester)

Oliver Lindblom, Trombone(Rochester)

Ohio

Redd C. Ingram, Bass(New Albany)

Pennsylvania

Braden Ellis, Bass(Broomall)

Sabine Jung, Cello(West Chester)

Puerto Rico

Rafniel E. Ríos Babilonia, Trumpet(Aguada)

Javier F. Torres-Delgado, Violin(San Juan)

South Carolina

Zoe Kushubar, Violin(Campobello)

South Dakota

Gillian Hilscher, Viola(Sioux Falls)

Naomi Powers, Violin(Mitchell)

Tennessee

Miles Goosby, Cello(Bartlett)

Allen Liu, Violin(Chattanooga)

Texas

Marcel Alexis Bobé, Cello(Corpus Christi)

Nathan Cloeter, Horn(Lake Jackson)

Matthew E. Garcia, Viola(Harlingen)

Diego Garza-Romero, Bass(Edinburg)

Richard Huang, Oboe(Frisco)

Jonathan Keith, Bass(Houston)

Jonathan Lopez, Clarinet(El Paso)

Rahel Lulseged, Cello(Richardson)

Nicholas Ochoa, Horn(Brownsville)

David Schonberger, Bass Trombone(El Paso)

Derek Song, Violin(College Station)

Andrea Velasquez, Flute(Kingwood)

Utah

Lily Springer, Viola(Lehi)

Vermont

Nathan Bamberger, Horn(St. George)

Andrew Fyles, Timpani/Percussion(St. Albans)

Virginia

Imani Edwards, Violin(Fairfax)

Washington

Ben Albertson, Harp(Olympia)

Donovan Bown, Oboe(Seattle)

Tanner Rodriguez, Cello(Seattle)

West Virginia

Devin Lai, Violin(Morgantown)

Wyoming

Jacob Lorenz, Violin(Jackson)

The following musicians from The Philadelphia Orchestra will serve as NYO2 faculty in 2016, working closely with the ensemble's young musicians during their residency at Purchase College:

Juliette Kang, First Associate Concertmaster
Hirono Oka, First Violin
Daniel Han, First Violin
Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin
Amy Oshiro-Morales, Second Violin
Che-Hung Chen, Viola
Marvin Moon, Viola
Hai-Ye Ni, Principal Cello
Gloria dePasquale, Cello
Ohad Bar-David, Cello
Harold Robinson, Principal Bass
Joseph Conyers, Assistant Principal Bass

Elizabeth Starr Masoudnia, English Horn
Ricardo Morales, Principal Clarinet

David Bilger, Principal Trumpet
Anthony Prisk, Trumpet
Blair Bollinger, Bass Trombone

Don Liuzzi, Principal Timpani