NYO-USA, NYO2, and NYO-China Perform at Carnegie Hall on 7/20

This July, three Carnegie Hall concerts showcase some of the finest young teen musicians from across the United States and abroad in performances presented over three consecutive nights in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage.

On Thursday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m., NYO2, a new Carnegie Hall ensemble launched in summer 2016 aiming to bring greater diversity to the classical music field, makes its Carnegie Hall debut, led by conductor Giancarlo Guerrero in a side-by-side concert with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra. The orchestra-made up of some of the finest instrumentalists in the US, ages 14-17-offers a program to include Copland's Billy the Kid Suite, Stravinsky's Firebird Suite (1919 version), and a set with Grammy Award-winning vocalist and double bassist Esperanza Spalding. In addition to this Carnegie Hall appearance, NYO2 will give a free concert in Philadelphia's Verizon Hall two days prior on Tuesday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. that will also feature Manuel De Falla's "The Three-Cornered Hat" Suite No. 2, performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra.

On the following evening, conductor Marin Alsop leads the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) in its annual performance at Carnegie Hall on Friday, July 21 at 8:00 p.m. The program includes the world premiere of Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra, a new Carnegie Hall-commissioned work by Gabriela Lena Frank influenced by Peruvian folkloric music and themes, alongside John Adams's Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Mahler's Symphony No. 1. This concert by NYO-USA-featuring the brightest young players from across the country, ages 16-19-will be heard by music lovers worldwide via the Carnegie Hall Live radio broadcast and digital series, created in partnership with WQXR and distributed nationally by WFMT Radio Network. Earlier in the week, NYO-USA also reaches a national audience through a public performance and recording of the classical music public radio show NPR's From the Top with Host Christopher O'Riley at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, SUNY on Wednesday, July 19 at 7:30 p.m. Following these New York performances, NYO-USA departs for its inaugural tour to Latin America, with performances and side-by-side collaborations with local student musicians in Guadalajara, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Bogotá, Colombia. This will mark the fifth major tour to capitals around the globe by NYO-USA.

Capping the week's three performances will be the international debut of the National Youth Orchestra of China (NYO-China), a new independent program inspired by NYO-USA that aims to showcase China's brightest young instrumentalists, ages 14-21. After two weeks of training and preparation, the orchestra debuts at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, July 22 at 8:00 p.m. with conductor Ludovic Morlot leading the young musicians in Zhou Long's The Rhyme of Taigu, Dvorák's "New World" Symphony, and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 featuring pianist Yuja Wang. Immediately following their Carnegie Hall concert, the 105 members of the new NYO-China travel home for a three-city Chinese tour.

"We are thrilled to welcome these brilliant young musicians from across the US and abroad for what will be a special week of performances," said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall's Executive and Artistic Director. "These concert programs showcase the next generation of exceptional instrumentalists, and their energy, enthusiasm, skill, and musicianship is inspiring. We look forward to the Carnegie Hall debut concerts by NYO2 and the National Youth Orchestra of China as they join the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America as part of a growing NYO community."

About the Orchestras
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 three-week training residency at Purchase College, State University of New York, with faculty made up of principal players from top professional US orchestras, these remarkable teenagers embark on a tour to some of the great music capitals of the world, serving as America's dynamic music ambassadors.

Launched in summer 2013 to great acclaim, the first-ever National Youth Orchestra of the USA presented concerts with conductor Valery Gergiev and violinist Joshua Bell to enthusiastic audiences at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC; St. Petersburg and Moscow in Russia; and in a live televised performance at the BBC Proms in London. The 2014 orchestra, led by American conductor David Robertson with violinist Gil Shaham as soloist, made its debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City, followed by a coast-to-coast US tour, from Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts to Chicago's Millennium Park, ending at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. In 2015, NYO-USA traveled to China, performing at seven of the country's greatest concert halls with conductor Charles Dutoit and pianist YUNDI, including the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Most recently, in summer 2016, the orchestra performed at Carnegie Hall with conductor Christoph Eschenbach and pianist Emanuel Ax before embarking on a European tour with conductor Valery Gergiev and pianist Denis Matsuev with stops in Amsterdam, Montpellier, Copenhagen, and Prague.

In 2018, NYO-USA will return to Asia for a tour with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Created by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute in summer 2016, NYO2 brings together outstanding young American instrumentalists ages 14-17 for a summer orchestral training program with a particular focus on attracting talented students from groups underserved by and underrepresented in the classical orchestral field. Running in conjunction with NYO-USA's annual summer residency at Purchase College, SUNY, NYO2 offers an opportunity for participants to play alongside exceptionally talented peers and learn from a world-class faculty. 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 partnership formed between Carnegie Hall and the orchestra in 2016 around this initiative. The program 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 and/or those who have not had access to highly selective training opportunities through major youth orchestra programs, summer festivals and camps, or similar experiences outside of their local community.

The inaugural season of NYO2 in summer 2016 culminated in a free side-by-side concert with The Philadelphia Orchestra at Verizon Hall led by conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, as well as a performance at the 23rd Street Armory that featured NYO2, NYO-USA, members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as local instrumentalists from Philadelphia-area youth orchestras, for a total of nearly 350 musicians. Ten musicians from the 2016 edition of NYO2 have, this year, joined the 2017 roster of NYO-USA.

The new National Youth Orchestra of China (NYO-China) launches in the summer of 2017, making its international debut in its July 22 concert with Ludovic Morlot and Yuja Wang at Carnegie Hall before joining Morlot and pianist Olga Kern for a three-city Chinese tour. Inspired by Carnegie Hall's own National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, NYO-China is an independent organization meant to provide Chinese musicians access to the same exceptional education and performance model developed by its American counterpart. The 2017 orchestra is comprised of 105 Chinese citizens between the ages of 14 and 21.

NYO-China's Carnegie Hall concert marks the culmination of an intensive two-week U.S. residential training program that begins on July 8 at Pennsylvania's East Stroudsburg University under the direction of Morlot, Artistic Director Jindong Cai, and NYO-China's teaching artists: a hand-picked team of leading Chinese-born musicians who include concertmaster Frank Huang and principal oboe Liang Wang of the New York Philharmonic. Besides attending rehearsals, masterclasses, seminars, workshops, chamber readings, and mentorship sessions, during the residency the orchestra's members will record broadcasts for WQXR and NPR's From the Top, visit the Yale School of Music, and enjoy invaluable opportunities for cultural exchange with their American counterparts in NYO-USA.

Carnegie Hall Program Information

Thursday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
NYO2 AND MEMBERS OF THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
Giancarlo Guerrero, Conductor
Esperanza Spalding, Vocals and Double Bass

Aaron Copland Billy the Kid Suite
Esperanza Spalding Selections from Chamber Music Society and Emily's D+Evolution
Igor Stravinsky Firebird Suite (1919 version)

Tickets: $20-$50
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Friday, July 21 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Marin Alsop, Conductor

John Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine
GABRIELA LENA FRANK Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra (world premiere; commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D Major

Tickets: $26-$65
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Saturday, July 22 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF CHINA
Ludovic Morlot, Conductor
Yuja Wang, Piano

ZHOU LONG The Rhyme of Taigu
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23
ANTONÍN DVORÁK Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, ">From the New World"

Tickets: $26-$75

The NYO-USA and NYO-China performances at Carnegie Hall are proudly supported by ICBC U.S. Region.

NYO-USA Supporting Sponsor: PepsiCo Foundation

Additional funding has been provided by The Jack Benny Family Foundation; JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation and Jolyon Stern and Nelle Nugent.

Founder Patrons: Blavatnik Family Foundation; Nicola and Beatrice Bulgari; The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; Marina Kellen French and the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation; The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Family Foundation; Ronald O. Perelman; Robertson Foundation; Beatrice Santo Domingo; Robert F. Smith; Sarah Billinghurst Solomon and Howard Solomon; and Joan and Sanford I. Weill and the Weill Family Foundation.

Lead support for the 125 Commissions Project is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Public support for the 125 Commissions Project is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional funding is provided by members of Carnegie Hall's Composer Club.

Tickets are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.

For the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) and NYO2 concerts in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of seats, priced at $10, will be available day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance or until supply lasts. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer.

In addition, for all three concerts in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of partial view (seats with obstructed or limited sight lines or restricted leg room) will be sold for 50% of the full price. For more information on this and other discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts. Artists, programs, and prices are subject to change.

Image of NYO-USA at top of release by Chris Lee.