Carnegie Hall

Each summer, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute brings together some of 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 multi-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 perform at Carnegie Hall and embark on a tour to some of the great music capitals of the world, serving as America’s dynamic music ambassadors. As part of their travel schedule, NYO-USA musicians also meet and collaborate with local young musicians and experience the richness of the local culture.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary season this summer, NYO-USA has been praised for “exuding vitality and confidence” (The New York Times) in its performances. Following annual concerts at Carnegie Hall, NYO-USA has toured in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, as well as across the United States. The orchestra has performed at leading international festivals and on landmark stages around the world, including the BBC Proms in London, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Lotte Hall in Seoul, Sucre National Theater in Quito, and the Tanglewood festival, among many others. Last summer, the orchestra returned to touring for the first time since the pandemic, performing across Europe, including debuts at the Lucerne and Ravello festivals. In the 10 years since the ensemble’s creation, NYO-USA has worked with incredible conductors and guest artists, including Sir Antonio Pappano, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Christoph Eschenbach, David Robertson, Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, Joshua Bell, Joyce DiDonato, Marin Alsop, and Michael Tilson Thomas.

NYO-USA is one of Carnegie Hall’s three acclaimed national youth orchestras, along with NYO2 for outstanding classical musicians ages 14–17 and NYO Jazz for the nation’s finest jazz instrumentalists ages 16–19. Over the last decade, more than a thousand young musicians have performed in the three ensembles, creating a unique musical community, spotlighting musical excellence found across the US, and transforming countless lives.

To learn more about NYO-USA, visit carnegiehall.org/NYOUSA.

One of today’s most recognized and acclaimed conductors, Sir Andrew Davis leads a career that spans more than 50 years during which he has been the musical and artistic leader at several of the world’s most distinguished opera and symphonic institutions. These include the Lyric Opera of Chicago (Music Director Emeritus; Music Director and Principal Conductor, 2000–2021), BBC Symphony Orchestra (Conductor Laureate; Chief Conductor, 1989–2000), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Music Director, 1988–2000), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Conductor Laureate; Chief Conductor, 2013–2019), and Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Conductor Laureate; Principal Conductor, 1975–1988). He also holds the honorary title of Conductor Emeritus from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Sir Andrew has conducted virtually all the world’s major orchestras, opera companies, and festivals.

Born in 1944 in Hertfordshire, England, Maestro Davis studied at King’s College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar before taking up conducting. His wide-ranging repertoire encompasses Baroque to contemporary works and spans the symphonic, operatic, and choral worlds. A vast and award-winning discography documents Sir Andrew’s artistry, with recent albums that include the works of Berg, Berlioz, Bliss, Elgar (winner of the 2018 Diapason d’Or de l’Année for symphonic music), Finzi, Grainger, Delius, Ives, Holst, Handel (nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance), Vaughan Williams, Carl Vine, and Bowen (nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance). He currently records exclusively for Chandos Records.

In 1992, Maestro Davis was made a Commander of the British Empire, and in 1999, he was designated a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours List.

Gil Shaham is one of the foremost violinists of our time. His flawless technique combined with his inimitable warmth and generosity of spirit have solidified his renown as an American master. He is sought after around the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors, and regularly gives recitals and appears with ensembles on the world’s great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.

Highlights of recent years include a recording and performances of J. S. Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin, and recitals with his longtime duo partner, pianist Akira Eguchi. He regularly appears with the Boston and Chicago symphony orchestras, Los Angeles and New York philharmonics, Berliner Philharmoniker, San Francisco Symphony, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orchestre de Paris, and in multi-year residencies with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Shaham has more than two-dozen concerto and solo albums to his name, earning multiple Grammys, a Grand Prix du Disque, a Diapason d’Or, and recognition as a Gramophone Editor’s Choice. His second recording in the series 1930s Violin Concertos was nominated for a Grammy Award. His latest recording of Beethoven and Brahms concertos with The Knights was released in 2021.

Mr. Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and in 2008, he received the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. In 2012, he was named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius and performs on an Antonio Stradivari violin made in Cremona circa 1719, with the assistance of Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative. He lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their three children.