Members of the National Youth Orchestra (NYO) are called ‘changemakers’ to reflect their dual role as performers in the orchestra and advocates for their instruments within the wider community. In addition to providing free performances and workshops in schools, youth spaces and music hubs across the country, this year each player will lead a workshop in their local primary school.
The NYO’s CEO and creative director, Sarah Alexander OBE, said: ‘We're stepping up to the response we received from young people. They’re showing us that they want to play and share orchestral music with their generation. This is driving us forward in a climate where fewer young people than ever before have the opportunity to experience orchestral music.’
At 7pm on 4 January 2025, at Barbican Hall, London, the NYO launches its Illuminate tour, a programme of Ravel’s Boléro, Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4 ‘The Inextinguishable’, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Catamorphosis, conducted by Jaime Martin; the tour moves to Warwick Arts Centre (5 January at 3pm), then Nottingham Royal Concert Hall (6 January at 7pm). Tickets are free for teenagers.
Musicians in the NYO are drawn from hundreds of applications annually across across the UK. Nearly half of the orchestra 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.org.uk
- Read more about the NYO here.
