Each summer, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute brings together the finest young musicians from across the country (ages 16–19) 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, State University of New York (SUNY), with faculty made up of principal players from top professional US orchestras, these remarkable teenagers perform at Carnegie Hall and embark on a tour to some of the great music capitals of the world, serving as dynamic music ambassadors for their country. As part of their travel schedule, NYO-USA musicians also meet and collaborate with local young musicians and experience the richness of other cultures.

Launched in the summer of 2013, NYO-USA performances have been praised for “exuding vitality and confidence” (The New York Times). Following annual concerts at Carnegie Hall, NYO-USA has toured in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, and across the United States. The orchestra has been invited to perform at leading international festivals and on landmark stages around the world, including the BBC Proms in London; National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing; Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg; Lotte Hall in Seoul; Sucre National Theater in Quito; and the Tanglewood festival, among many others. Most recently, in the summer of 2021, the orchestra gathered in person at SUNY Purchase, marking the first time that most of the young musicians had been able to play in full ensembles since the start of the pandemic. In the nine years since the ensemble’s creation, NYO-USA has worked with incredible conductors and guest artists, including Sir Antonio Pappano, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Christoph Eschenbach, David Robertson, Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, Joshua Bell, Joyce DiDonato, Marin Alsop, and Michael Tilson Thomas.

In 2022, the orchestra tours Europe with conductor Daniel Harding and guest cellist Alisa Weilerstein, performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 and Elgar’s Cello Concerto at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (August 2); Young Euro Classic festival in Berlin (August 5); Ravello Festival (August 8); and Lucerne Festival (August 10), where it makes its debut.

NYO-USA is one of Carnegie Hall’s three acclaimed national youth orchestras, along with NYO2 for outstanding classical musicians ages 14–17 and NYO Jazz for the nation’s finest jazz instrumentalists ages 16–19.

To learn more about NYO-USA, visit https://www.carnegiehall.org/Education/Programs/National-Youth-Ensembles/NYO-USA