Today we announce the young people who are taking on the greatest adventure teenagers can have through playing and sharing music.
158 teenage musicians will come together through their love of music, and their commitment and talents to play their part in a cutting-edge orchestra that speaks to their generation. They will become inspirational changemakers, through performances, sharing and exchanging skills and by shaping the future of orchestral music.
From different backgrounds, and from across the UK these exceptional young people show what is possible when they are given the opportunity to take their talents as far as they can go. As an NYO musician they are part of a national team representing the power of music education, and the transformational impact that playing and listening to orchestral music can have on young people.
You can find out more about each of the musicians on the Meet the Musicians page.
Every musician in the Orchestra plays a role in encouraging, supporting and championing their peers. A further forty young people with terrific potential will be welcomed into the NYO community in 2024 to learn alongside NYO musicians and accelerate their learning journey through orchestral music. The whole community, throughout the year, will work with more than 1,000 of their peers through NYO Inspire and reach many more teenagers through NYO Open projects with partners across the music education sector.
The first activity for this new cohort of musicians is NYO Unite – day long events across the UK this October which unite the entire NYO community of young musicians. The musicians in the Orchestra will be role models and peer leaders to 100s of young people, fulfilling their role not just as musicians but as mentors.
Across the rest of the year everything the Orchestra does will radiate out as a vital source of inspiration and motivation for other young people:
- Tickets are Free for Teens in our concert hall performances in Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester, Coventry, Saffron Walden and London’s Barbican Hall and Royal Festival Hall.
- A live stream in collaboration with Barbican Centre as part of their Live from the Barbican series, a chance to enjoy the concert experience from the comfort of your own home, wherever you are in the UK.
- Taking their exciting performances directly to hundreds of teenagers in state secondary schools.
- 150 performances in primary schools across the country. Each musician will take their own musical spirit and creativity to their local primary school children, as independent and dynamic musical ambassadors, through the NYO Local initiative.
Be the first to hear The National Youth Orchestra 2024 live in concert this January. Tickets are Free for Teens. Full concert details here.
The National Youth Orchestra 2024 in numbers:
- The Orchestra features 158 teenagers from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and even the Channel Islands.
- 50% of the NYO community are from state-education and 37% are Black, Asian or ethnically diverse.
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Female musicians take more than 60% of leadership roles in the orchestra.
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71 teenagers are joining the Orchestra for the very first time whilst 2 musicians are re-joining for their fifth year.
- 39% of the orchestra are alumni of our groundbreaking NYO Inspire programme.
- 1,000 teenage musicians will make music an even bigger part of their lives through the NYO Inspire programme in 2024.
- 9,000 teenagers will take part in NYO Open activities.