The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra (PYO) is a youth

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The orchestra's current Music Director is Louis Scaglione. The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra is regarded as one of the best youth orchestras in the world and is often compared to many professional orchestras. The Orchestra works with a "companion ensemble", the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra (PYAO), the lower version of PYO, which was established in 1996, and Bravo Brass, a brass ensemble, which was founded in 2003. In 2007, another group, Philadelphia Region Youth String Music, (PRYSM), was added to the program as a string music education ensemble. In 2016, a new companion ensemble, the (YMDO), or Young Musicians Debut Orchestra, was introduced.

Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra

PYO was conducted by Joseph Primavera for 51 years, until 2005 when he retired from the position. The orchestra is now conducted by Maestro Louis Scaglione. Maestro Primavera was the music director laureate until he died in 2006. Members of both orchestras are chosen through highly competitive auditions held in June and September of every year. PYO holds around six concerts a year while PYAO holds around four a year. The orchestras have played music by such composers as Gustav Mahler, Ludwig van Beethoven, Dmitri Shostakovich, Antonín Dvořák, Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Sergei Prokofiev, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, and more. The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra has been widely acclaimed by newspapers such as ''The New York Times'', ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' and The UK Post. In addition to playing in prestigious local venues such as Verizon Hall at the

Kimmel Center The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is a large performing arts venue at 300 South Broad Street and the corner of Spruce Street, along the stretch known as the Avenue of the Arts in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is owned an ...

, PYO has participated in numerous international tours with sold-out concerts in countries such as Brazil, Poland, Vienna, China, Czech Republic, Italy, Russia, Jordan, Israel, Spain, England, Switzerland, France, Germany, Argentina, Uruguay, The British Isles, and Australia. The conductor of the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra (PYAO) is Maestra Rosalind Erwin. The Philadelphia Young Musicians Orchestra (PYMO) is led by Maestro Kenneth Bean, and the Philadelphia Region Youth String Music (PRYSM) is directed by Conductor Gloria dePasquale, cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Famous alumni

* David Kwon, violinist * Jae Hoon Kim, clarinetist * Francesca dePasquale, violinist *

Joseph Hallman Joseph Hallman (born Nov. 20, 1979) is an American composer. A functional orphan, Hallman was born and raised in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Girard College from first to twelfth grades. Based in Philade ...

, composer *

Elizabeth Pitcairn Elizabeth Pitcairn (born December 5, 1973) is a renowned American classical violinist who is noted for performing on the 1720 "Red Mendelssohn" Antonio Stradivari violin. In addition to a solo career, Pitcairn is President and Artistic Director ...

, violinist *Paul Hewitt, viola *Troy Peters, viola, conductor, composer *Peter Wilson, percussion * Mark Bencivengo, percussion * Paul Lafollette, French horn * Cally Banham, oboe, English horn * Kim Kelter, oboe * Mark J. Donellan, oboe, English horn *Michael Norton, tuba * Joseph McNichols, trumpet * Mike Silvester, clarinet * Dotan Yarden, bassoon *Todd Nichols, percussion, conductor *Robert Peterson, Double Bass, Conductor, and Music Educator

References

Philadelphia Youth Orchestra
website
History & Timeline
Philadelphia Youth Orchestra
PYO Celebrates – 75 Years Young
Philadelphia Youth Orchestra American youth orchestras Culture of Philadelphia Musical groups from Philadelphia 1939 establishments in Pennsylvania Youth organizations based in Pennsylvania Musical groups established in 1939 Orchestras based in Pennsylvania {{US-orchestra-stub