Carnegie Hall announced last month the named of 89 young musicians from around the country for NYO2, an intensive summer orchestral training program for some of the most promising young instrumentalists age 14-17, including one local boy.
Levi Robertson is a 15-year-old horn player who attends Coram Deo Academy in Flower Mound and is a member of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, the TMEA Symphony Orchestra, and now, NYO2.
“We congratulate the remarkable young players who will come together this summer as part of NYO2, inspiring us with their artistry and joining us in welcoming young musicians from around the world to New York,” said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall’s Executive and Artistic Director.
Thirty musicians who took part in NYO2 in previous summers have been accepted to the 2024 National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, Carnegie Hall’s flagship ensemble for players ages 16–19. Carnegie Hall’s national youth ensembles — including NYO2 — are offered free of charge to participants, ensuring that all invited musicians can take part each summer, according to a Carnegie Hall news release.
“They say the way to Carnegie Hall is to ‘practice, practice, practice,’ which is why I’m so pleased to support the NYO2 program with federal funding that will help the program expand and allow more young musicians pursue their artistic dreams at one of the greatest cultural institutions in the world,” said U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The NYO2 musicians will arrive in New York City in mid-July to start their intensive two-week training residency at Purchase College, State University of New York, located just north of New York City. James Ross, who has worked with NYO-USA since its inaugural year and with NYO2 since last summer, returns to oversee rehearsals during the orchestra’s residency alongside 2024 associate conductors Carlos Ágreda and Tamara Dworetz. NYO2’s faculty of top music professionals will work closely with the young players, helping them to prepare their 2024 program and coaching them in master classes and sectionals, according to the news release.
American conductor Teddy Abrams, Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra, will lead NYO2 in the ensemble’s Carnegie Hall concert on Aug. 1. The evening’s program includes
Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite (1919 version), and more. Then NYO2 will travel to Dallas for a residency to include a performance at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center on Aug. 6, and activities with other young instrumentalists.
