The American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras (AYPO) is group of youth orchestras in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgi ...

. The group consists of three full orchestras (the American Youth Philharmonic, Symphonic Orchestra, and Concert Orchestra), and three string orchestras (Sinfonietta, String Ensemble, and Debut Orchestra), along with several chamber ensembles and community outreach organizations. Currently, over 430 young musicians take part in AYPO programs.

History

The orchestras were founded as the youth division of the Fairfax Symphony in 1965 with a single ensemble, the Northern Virginia Youth Symphony. The orchestra became independent of the Fairfax Symphony in 1978, and in 1993 changed the name of its main ensemble to the American Youth Philharmonic. The organization has steadily grown since its founding, with the most recent constituent orchestra, the Sinfonietta, being founded in 2021. The organization is among the most prominent in the Washington metropolitan area, performing at a number of prominent venues including Carnegie Hall and the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

. In the past, it has also toured internationally to participate in programs such as the

Aberdeen International Youth Festival Aberdeen International Youth Festival was a festival of performing arts and one of Scotland's major international cultural events, which ran from 1981 to 2017. Each year the festival brought over 1000 young people in performing arts companies ...

. AYPO also conducts an outreach program to under-served students in

Alexandria City Public Schools Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is a school division which is funded by the government of Alexandria, Virginia, United States. Administration Superintendent The superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools is Gregory C. Hutchings, ...

, called Music Buddies. Currently, the organization is led by the British organist and choirmaster Dr. Graham Elliott. AYPO's board of directors is mostly composed of the parents of young musicians in AYPO, including business figures such as

Ben Baldanza Basil Ben Baldanza (born December 3, 1961) is an economist and was the chief executive officer and president of Spirit Airlines from 2005 to 2016, a period in which he led the transformation of the company into an ultra-low-cost carrier. Biogr ...

References

External links

AYPO official website
American youth orchestras Performing arts in Virginia {{US-orchestra-stub