The Stockport Youth Orchestra is a group of three

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

ensembles for people of up to 21 years of age from the area of

Metropolitan Borough of Stockport The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England, south-east of central Manchester. As well as the towns of Stockport, Bredbury and Marple, it includes the outlying areas of Hazel Grov ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was formed in 1956, and has provided orchestral experience for many players who have gone on to achieve professional success, such as

Christian Blackshaw Christian Charles Blackshaw (born 18 January 1949, in Cheshire, England) is a British classical pianist. He was educated at The King's School, Macclesfield. In his teens he played oboe (as well as piano) in the Stockport Youth Orchestra in Gr ...

Jennifer Pike Jennifer Elizabeth Pike (born 9 November 1989) is a British violinist. Early years and education Pike began playing the violin at the age of five, and after auditioning at the age of eight she gained a place at Chetham's School of Music in Ma ...

, and

Nicholas Kenyon Sir Nicholas Roger Kenyon CBE (born 23 February 1951, in Cheshire) is an English music administrator, editor and writer on music. He was responsible for the BBC Proms in 1996–2007, after which he was appointed Managing Director of the Barbican C ...

. The orchestra maintains a diverse and challenging repertoire and has a substantial library of orchestral music. Outstanding soloists, often senior or ex-members of the orchestra, are invited to play concertos with SYO. Recent soloists include Emma Oldfield, William Morley, Alice Purton, George Hoult, Micha Nemtsov and Yukihiro Nishimoto. Recent works played include Copland Appalachian Spring, Lutoslawski Little Suite, Dvorak Symphony No.6,

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer ...

Sinfonietta,

Reger Reger is a German surname, derived from the Middle High German ''reiger'', meaning "heron", likely referring to a tall thin person.''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Reger Family History" Oxford University Press, 2013. Retrieved on 16 January ...

Variations on a theme by Mozart and

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

Firebird Suite. Former Musical Directors include Philip MacKenzie, Derek Margerson an
Xenophon Kelsey
MBE. The Orchestra funded by

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The council is currently run by a Liberal Democrat minority administration. At the 2022 local elections, the ...

and The Rotary Club of Stockport, and is the Youth Partner of

Manchester Camerata The Manchester Camerata is a British chamber orchestra based in Manchester, England. A sub-group from the orchestra, the Manchester Camerata Ensemble, specialises in chamber music performances. The orchestra's primary concert venue is The Bridg ...

. The Musical Director is Tim Crooks, and assistant Musical Director is Sinead Hayes. It is administered by the Patrons' Society, which is a Registered Charity.

External links

Official web site
English youth orchestras Musical groups from Greater Manchester Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport {{Orchestra-stub