The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain has announced its first ever tour to the USA in Summer 2019, including a debut at Carnegie Hall in New York, cultural exchange with fellow teenagers, side-by-side projects and a performance at the Ravinia Festival, the oldest and most diverse outdoor music festival in the US, with further engagements to be confirmed. The official launch takes place on 11 July with a special reception with the soloist for the tour, violinist Nicola Benedetti. Applications to audition for NYO for 2019 will remain open until the end of July to afford the largest number of teenagers to be part of this opportunity of a lifetime.
NYO has also announced that David Warburton MP will chair their Development Board, charged with developing long-term funding strategies and securing the future expansion of the organisation’s work. The member of Parliament for Somerton and Frome is a passionate supporter of classical music, having trained as a composer at the Royal College of Music and worked as a music teacher before pursuing a highly successful business career.
Dame Liz Forgan DBE, Chair of NYO said: “This is a great opportunity top put the UK’s famous National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain to a world stage and to forge links with other teenage musicians through NYO’s internationally admired model for teenage engagement, and peer mentoring. Everyone in and around NYO will be busy fundraising to support the tour and I am delighted to welcome David Warburton MP to lead our funding campaign. “
David Warburton said: “It really is a wonderful opportunity to be able to take part in the process behind taking this extraordinary and inspirational orchestra – and magnificent advertisement for the UK - closer to more people. The USA tour will not only benefit those many people who will be lucky enough to be touched by their performances, but will also give the performers themselves an experience which will stay with them for life. I’m delighted to be with NYO at such a crucial time in their development and I look forward very much to joining them as they take these exciting steps forward.”
The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO) believes in inspiring its teenage members with a sense of personal responsibility for giving world-class performances that inspire other teenagers, the future performers and audiences for orchestral music. Founded in 1948, the organisation has been transformed in the last decade under the leadership of Sarah Alexander OBE. In 2018, NYO Musicians will volunteer over 1000 hours and engage with 10,000 teenage musicians. As cuts to funding for music provision in schools take hold, NYO Inspire initiatives – which provide targeted pathways for state school students to performance opportunities at the highest level - are oversubscribed. In 2018, NYO Musicians will volunteer over 1000 hours and engage live with 3,000 teenage musicians.