Beginning today, June 30, 120 of the country's finest young musicians, ages 16-19, come together for the inaugural residency and tour of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, a new annual tuition-free program created by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. NYO-USA's 2013 summer schedule includes five concerts in the US and abroad from July 11 to 21, with performances in Purchase, NY; Washington, DC; Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia; and London, England.
"We're very excited to welcome the musicians of the NYO-USA for the first time this summer," said
Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of
Carnegie Hall. "Though they come from every corner of the United States, all share a commitment to being the finest musicians they can be. We hope that this will be a life-changing experience for them, not just musically, as they train alongside their peers with some of the greatest orchestral players from around the US, but also personally, as they form friendships that last a lifetime and represent the best of their country around the globe."
Capping a two-week summer residency at Purchase College, SUNY, just outside New York City in Westchester County, in which the young musicians will train with section leaders from some of the country's best orchestras, world-renowned conductor
Valery Gergiev will lead the NYO-USA in its first public performance with acclaimed violinist
Joshua Bell at Purchase's Performing Arts Center on
Thursday, July 11. From there, the orchestra embarks on its inaugural tour, starting in the nation's capital to make its debut at Washington DC's Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on
Saturday, July 13.
Following these two engagements, Maestro Gergiev, Mr. Bell, and the NYO-USA will travel overseas for two concerts in Mr. Gergiev's home country: in Moscow, at The Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory on
Tuesday, July 16 and, in St. Petersburg, at the recently unveiled Mariinsky II theater on
Thursday, July 18 as part of Gergiev's Stars of the White Nights Festival. The orchestra's first tour culminates with a concert at London's Royal
Albert Hall on
Sunday, July 21, as part of the BBC Proms. The NYO-USA's Proms performance will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and recorded for a later television broadcast, scheduled to air on BBC Four on July 26. WQXR will broadcast NYO-USA's BBC Proms concert on July 27 at 5:00 p.m. ET, bringing it to New York area radio audiences and online listeners worldwide at
wqxr.org.
The orchestra's concert program for all summer 2013 performances includes Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with Mr. Bell as soloist; Shostakovich's Symphony No, 10 in E Minor; and
Magiya, a new work by American composer Sean Shepherd, co-commissioned by
Carnegie Hall and BBC Radio 3, specifically for NYO-USA. As part of their travel schedule, the NYO-USA players will also have the exciting opportunity to explore the cities in which they will be performing, as well as the chance to interact with local young musicians at stops along the way.
When the orchestra steps on stage for its debut, the musicians will sport a youthful, elegant, and fun take on traditional concert attire-including red trousers, black jackets with satin tonal details, and black canvas low-top Converse tennis shoes with white-stars patterns-styled by Fred Bernstein, courtesy of Macy's and Bloomingdale's.
Hailing from 42 US states and over 100 cities and towns, the 120 young musicians who make up the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America have all been recognized by
Carnegie Hall as being among the finest in the country following a comprehensive, nationwide audition process. For a video preview of NYO-USA, including player-submitted performances and interviews about the project, visit the orchestra's new YouTube channel at
youtube.com/nyousa. For more information on NYO-USA, visit
carnegiehall.org/nyousa. The orchestra can also be followed on Facebook at
facebook.com/nyousa and on Twitter at
#NYOUSA.
