Carnegie Hall

(July 21, 2017; NEW YORK, NY)—This summer, the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, featuring 115 outstanding young musicians from across the country, comes together for its fifth year of extraordinary music making, culminating in the orchestra’s first-ever tour of Latin America. NYO-USA’s 2017 Latin America tour takes place from July 26 through August 4 with orchestra performances in Guadalajara, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Bogotá, Colombia, including side-by-side musical collaborations with fellow young musicians in all three tour countries.

Established by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute in 2013, NYO-USA shines a spotlight on the depth of talent found among young instrumentalists across the United States. The members of the 2017 orchestra—ages 16-19, hailing from 33 US states—have been recognized by Carnegie Hall as being among the finest players in the country, following a comprehensive audition process. The NYO-USA program is free to all participants.

“For the past five years, the National Youth Orchestra of the USA has challenged its players to not only perform musically at the highest level, but also to serve as great musical ambassadors for their country,” said Carnegie Hall’s Executive and Artistic Director Clive Gillinson. “The orchestra breaks new ground this summer with this historic trip to Latin America. I know that NYO-USA’s concerts will inspire audiences wherever the orchestra travels with our musicians forming new friendships all along the way and making meaningful connections with people through music.”

Acclaimed conductor Marin Alsop—Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra—leads the orchestra on this historic first-ever Latin American tour. Following their July 21 performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Maestra Alsop and NYO-USA fly first to Guadalajara, Mexico for a residency and performance at the Auditorio Telmex (July 26), followed by a concert with the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Guadalajara the next night (July 27).

The tour continues with a concert at the Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito, Ecuador (July 30). While in Ecuador, select NYO-USA musicians will present a pop-up concert in Quito’s Floresta neighborhood. Other players will travel to the Ecuadorean coastal city Guayaquil for an afternoon of music-making with area young musicians.

NYO-USA’s tour concludes with a multi-day residency in Bogotá, Colombia, including a concert at the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo (August 3) and a joint performance with students from Batuta, Colombia’s national El Sistema-inspired music education program, and the Bogotá Youth Philharmonic (August 4).

Throughout the tour, the orchestra’s main concert program in each city will include Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra, a new work by Gabriela Lena Frank influenced by Peruvian folkloric music and themes, commissioned especially for NYO-USA by Carnegie Hall, performed alongside John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.

Joint concerts with local youth orchestras in Guadalajara and Bogotá will feature a mix of music from America and Latin America—including works by Gershwin, Bernstein, Frank, and Adams, plus Ginastera, Arteaga, and Márquez—plus new music written by teen apprentice composers from NYO-USA and young composers from host countries.

NYO-USA’s 2017 touring activities have been designed to allow America’s finest musicians to share their artistry with international audiences while also experiencing the richness of Latin American culture and music. As part of their travel schedule, NYO-USA players will have the opportunity to tour cities and interact with local musicians and community members.

“We know from experience that music is a universal language that bridges cultures around the globe, bringing people closer together” commented Gillinson. “We hope this tour will be a time of great musical and cultural discovery for both our musicians and everyone they will meet throughout this tour.”

Since its inception in 2013, the National Youth Orchestra of the USA’s international touring program has included triumphant debuts in Russia, China, and cultural capitals across Europe. NYO-USA fans in the United States and abroad are invited to follow the orchestra’s first journey through Latin America on social media with photos, videos, and livestreams posted daily on facebook.com/nyousa.

The orchestra’s performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall on July 21 will be streamed live online to a worldwide audience by medici.tv, continuing a partnership that makes live video webcasts of select Carnegie Hall presentations available to music lovers around the globe. The performance will be available online for free until ninety days after the concert.

About the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America
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, 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 China’s capital city, 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.

In preparation for the 2017 Latin America tour, the musicians of the National Youth Orchestra of the USA were in residency from July 1-23 on the campus of Purchase College, State University of New York, located in Westchester County, just north of New York City.

James Ross—most recently, director of orchestral activities at the University of Maryland and conducting faculty member at The Juilliard School— returned this summer to lead the NYO-USA faculty for a fifth year. The faculty, comprised of some of the finest principal players and section leaders from America’s top orchestras and music schools, has overseen rehearsals during the orchestra’s Purchase residency and conducted master classes, chamber music readings, and other seminars on essential musical skills, all leading up to the orchestra’s international tour. Lina Gonzalez-Granados, one of two Assistant Conductors supporting Marin Alsop and James Ross in preparing the orchestra this summer, also accompanies NYO-USA on the Latin America tour, working with them in collaborative settings with local musicians.

CONCERT PROGRAM INFORMATION: NYO-USA 2017 LATIN AMERICAN TOUR

Wednesday, July 26 at 8:30 p.m.
Auditorio Telmex
Guadalajara, Mexico

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 (commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 1 in D Major


Thursday, July 27 at 8:30 p.m.
Auditorio Telmex
Guadalajara, Mexico

JOINT CONCERT WITH NYO-USA AND ORQUESTA SINFÓNICA JUVENIL DE GUADALAJARA

GEORGE GERSHWIN Cuban Overture
ALBERTO GINASTERA Estancia Dances
GABRIELA LENA FRANK Three Latin American Dances
GEORGES BIZET Carmen Suite No. 1
J. P. REDMOND* Silhouette
LEONARD BERNSTEIN “Somewhere” from West Side Story
ARTURO MÁRQUEZ Conga del Fuego Nuevo

*2017 NYO-USA Apprentice Composer


Sunday, July 30 at 6:00 p.m.
Teatro Nacional Sucre
Quito, Ecuador

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 (commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 1 in D Major


Thursday, August 3 at 8:00 p.m.
Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo
Bogotá, Colombia

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 (commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 1 in D Major


Friday, August 4 at 8:00 p.m.
Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo
Bogotá, Colombia

SIDE-BY-SIDE NYO-USA CONCERT
WITH MEMBERS OF BATUTA AND THE BOGOTÁ YOUTH PHILHARMONIC

GEORGE GERSHWIN Cuban Overture
ALBERTO GINASTERA Estancia Dances
GABRIELA LENA FRANK Three Latin American Dances
GEORGES BIZET Carmen Suite No. 1
LUIS FELIPE ARTEAGA Three impresiones orquestales
CAMILO GONZALEZ-SOL* Dancing Music for an Artist’s Mind
LEONARD BERNSTEIN “Somewhere” from West Side Story
ARTURO MÁRQUEZ Conga del Fuego Nuevo

*2017 NYO-USA Apprentice Composer

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What the press have said about the National Youth Orchestra of the USA:

“The performance exuded vitality and confidence.” — The New York Times

“This very large orchestra not only played with ferocious spirit and genuine personality, but it also produced refined performances notable for credible polish.” — Los Angeles Times

“It was the kind of night that reassures classical music lovers that the art form will survive well into the future.” — Musical America

“Throughout, the playing was of the highest caliber: controlled, precise, crisp, and nuanced, with perfect ensemble.” — Classical Voice North America

“Carnegie Hall may have created the best music camp ever.” — National Public Radio

“With their debut this week it already seems safe to say that the future of classical music in America is stronger than it was even one month ago!” — The Times, London

“The whole ensemble played with electric commitment.” — The Guardian 

To learn more about NYO-USA, visit carnegiehall.org/nyousa.
Like NYO-USA and NYO2 on Facebook at facebook.com/nyousa.
Follow on Twitter at #NYOUSA and #NYO2.
See more on YouTube at youtube.com/nyousa.

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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 Carnegie Hall’s 125 Commissions Project is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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

Image at top of release by Chris Lee