Carnegie Hall

(July 10, 2019; NEW YORK, NY)—Carnegie Hall continues its summertime tradition, shining a spotlight on extraordinary teen musicians from across the country with concerts by the Hall’s three acclaimed national youth ensembles—the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, NYO2, and NYO Jazz. Each ensemble, collaborating with some of the world’s leading artists, takes to the famed stage over the course of one week, performing in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage from July 27–August 3.

NYO Jazz—an exciting new ensemble launched last summer showcasing the bright future ahead for American jazz—kicks off the week’s musical festivities, performing on Saturday, July 27 at 8:00 p.m. Led by trumpeter/artistic director Sean Jones and featuring Grammy Award-winning vocalist Kurt Elling, the evening’s program will explore the scope of jazz music from big band and bebop to Latin and soul with NYO Jazz performing a new work by Ayn Inserto (commissioned by Carnegie Hall), new arrangements by Igmar Thomas and Wycliffe Gordon, and standards by Dizzy Gillespie, Don Ellis, Thad Jones, and Mary Lou Williams, among others. Following this Carnegie Hall appearance, NYO Jazz immediately departs for the group’s inaugural tour of Asia, including debut concerts in Taichung, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhuhai, and Hong Kong.

Three days later, on Tuesday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m., conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto returns to Carnegie Hall to lead NYO2—an inspiring orchestra featuring outstanding young musicians, ages 14-17—in a program to include Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka, Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat (abridged), and Gabriela Montero’s Piano Concerto No. 1, “Latin,” with the composer herself appearing as soloist, making her Carnegie Hall debut. Prior to this Carnegie Hall concert, NYO2 travels to Miami Beach for a six-day residency, made possible through a partnership with the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy (NWS), culminating with a performance at the New World Center on Saturday, July 27 at 8:30 p.m. This Miami concert will also be made available to the South Florida community for free via WALLCAST®, with the full performance viewable outdoors in SoundScape Park on the 7,000-square-foot projection wall of the building. NYO2 will be joined on stage in both Miami and New York City by Fellows from the New World Symphony, many of whom will work as coaches during the orchestra’s summer 2019 training residency.

On Saturday, August 3 at 8:00 p.m., the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) concludes the week with its annual Carnegie Hall concert, performing Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie and Berlioz’s Les nuits d'été featuring renowned mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, under the baton of conductor Sir Antonio Pappano. This concert by NYO-USA will be heard by music lovers worldwide through the Carnegie Hall Live radio broadcast and digital series, created in partnership with WQXR. In addition to this Carnegie Hall performance, NYO-USA performs at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts on Thursday, August 1 at 8:00 p.m. and embarks on a European tour, making its debut in Berlin with mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, followed by debuts at the Edinburgh International Festival and Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, as well as return performances at London’s BBC Proms and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. In addition to the Berlioz and Strauss, concert repertoire for the tour includes Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and two new works written for the orchestra by apprentice composers Benjamin S. Beckman and Tyson J. Davis. Beckman’s piece, Occidentalis, will be premiered at Tanglewood, and Davis’s piece, Delicate Tension—which commemorates the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall—will receive its premiere at Konzerthaus Berlin. This will mark NYO-USA’s seventh major tour to music capitals around the globe, including appearances throughout Europe, Latin America, Asia, and coast-to-coast across the United States.

Tickets: For the first time, all tickets for Carnegie Hall concerts by all three national youth ensembles—from the parquet to the balcony—are made available for just $25 for adults and $10 for youth (18 years old or younger), making it even easier for entire families and groups of students to enjoy these performances together. See ticket box below for more information.

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Each summer, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute brings together extraordinary teen classical and jazz musicians from across the country to form its highly-acclaimed national youth ensembles. Following a highly selective audition process and two-week training residency at Purchase College, State University of New York with faculty made up of principal players from top professional orchestras and leading jazz masters, these remarkable teenagers perform at Carnegie Hall and embark on tours to some of the great music capitals around the world, serving as dynamic music ambassadors.

Since launching the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (ages 16-19) in 2013, Carnegie Hall has built on the program’s success by introducing two additional ensembles. These include NYO2, a sister ensemble for younger teens (ages 14-17) in 2016, and NYO Jazz, which returns this summer after a celebrated inaugural year in 2018 and successful first European tour. Each of these highly-selective programs—free to all participants—is dedicated to the proposition that talented young musicians thrive when they have the opportunity to expand their musical, social, and cultural horizons and share their artistry with audiences around the globe. In total, 222 teen musicians will take part in this year’s program, representing 39 US states, plus Puerto Rico.

Click here for a video showing highlights of performances around the world by NYO-USA, NYO2, and NYO Jazz from summer 2018.

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Program Information
Saturday, July 27 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
NYO JAZZ
Sean Jones, Artistic Director, Bandleader, and Trumpet

with Special Guest
Kurt Elling, Vocalist

Program to include works by Dizzy Gillespie, Don Ellis, Thad Jones, and Mary Lou Williams, a new work by Ayn Inserto commissioned by Carnegie Hall, and new arrangements by Igmar Thomas and Wycliffe Gordon.

Tickets: $25

Tuesday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
NYO2
Carlos Miguel Prieto, Conductor
Gabriela Montero, Piano

with
Fellows of the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy

MANUEL DE FALLA The Three-Cornered Hat (abridged)
GABRIELA MONTERO Piano Concerto No. 1, “Latin”
IGOR STRAVINSKY Pétrouchka (1947 version)

Tickets: $25

Saturday, August 3 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor
Isabel Leonard, Mezzo-Soprano

HECTOR BERLIOZ Les nuits d'été, Op. 7
RICHARD STRAUSS Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64

Tickets: $25

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NYO-USA Supporters

Lead Donors: Hope and Robert F. Smith, Marina Kellen French and the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, Beatrice Santo Domingo, and Nicola and Beatrice Bulgari.

Global Ambassadors: Hope and Robert F. Smith, and Maggie and Richard Tsai.

NYO-USA Sponsor: United Airlines®, Official Airline of Carnegie Hall.

Major funding has been provided by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Carl Jacobs Foundation, and JMCMRJ Sorrell Foundation.

Additional funding has been provided by Sarah Arison, The Jack Benny Family Foundation, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, and Mary Anne Huntsman Morgan and The Huntsman Foundation.

Public funding has been provided by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

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; Hope and Robert F. Smith; Sarah Billinghurst Solomon and Howard Solomon; and Joan and Sanford I. Weill and the Weill Family Foundation.

NYO2 Supporters

Lead Donors: Hope and Robert F. Smith, Marina Kellen French and the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, and Beatrice Santo Domingo.

Global Ambassadors: Hope and Robert F. Smith, and Maggie and Richard Tsai.

Leadership support for NYO2 is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Founder Patron: Beatrice Santo Domingo.

With additional funding provided by Ardian US Foundation, Sarah Arison, and Ernst & Young LLP.

Public support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

NYO Jazz Supporters

Lead Donors: Hope and Robert F. Smith, Marina Kellen French and the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, Beatrice Santo Domingo, and Maggie and Richard Tsai.

Global Ambassadors: Hope and Robert F. Smith, and Maggie and Richard Tsai.

Major support has been provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Clive and Anya Gillinson, Jean Eric Salata and Baring Private Equity Asia, and MBK Partners.

Additional support has been provided by Sarah Arison, Bank of America, and CHIMEI Culture Foundation.

Public support has been provided by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.

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Learn more about NYO-USA, NYO2, and NYO Jazz.
Like NYO-USA and NYO2 on Facebook.
Like NYO Jazz on Facebook.
Follow NYO-USA, NYO2, and NYO Jazz on Instagram.
Follow on Twitter at #NYOUSA, #NYO2, and #NYOJazz.
See more on Youtube. 

Photography: Sean Jones by Conrad Louis-Charles, Kurt Elling by Anna Webber.

Ticket Information

Tickets, priced at $25, 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 anyone 18 years old or younger, $10 tickets are available by calling CarnegieCharge or visiting the Box Office. $10 youth tickets are not available online.

For Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place 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. The exceptions are Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. 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 Carnegie Hall presentations 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.