WELLINGTON YOUTH ORCHESTRA
Wellington Youth Orchestra is the only full-size symphonic orchestra for young players (Grade 8 and above) in the Wellington region.
Music Director Mark Carter says:
"WYO brings young musicians together from across Wellington to form a full size symphony orchestra. The 2025 season consists of three projects, and the Concerto Competition offers the opportunity to a member of WYO who will receive the Tom Gott Cup and have the chance to perform their solo work of choice in the final concert of the year.
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The music for 2025 will be challenging and rewarding for all sections of the orchestra and many friendships are made for life. Highlights include Capriccio Italien by Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky’s Night on a Bare Mountain. Our guest conductor for Project 2 will be NZSO Concertmaster Vesa-Matti Leppänen.
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Project 3 will be a real highlight as we are combining with the Wellington Youth Choir in a performance of Jake Runestad’s Emmy award winning Earth Symphony on the stage of the Michael Fowler Center. Also a great experience for our concerto competition winner to perform on this stage."
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WYO rehearses on Monday evenings during term time (7:15 pm - 9.20 pm) in the Adam Concert Room at the New Zealand School of Music. Our use of the ACR is made possible by the generous support of the New Zealand School of Music.
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JOIN WELLINGTON YOUTH ORCHESTRA
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Read about our Project 1 concert here!
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WELLINGTON YOUTH SINFONIETTA
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Wellington Youth Sinfonietta is the training orchestra for the Wellington Youth Orchestra. It provides orchestral training for players from about Grade 5 level upwards.
WYS is conducted by Chris van der Zee, professional violist, conductor and educator.
We offer opportunities for solo performance for senior players, and performance opportunities for student composers. We also have a long tradition of training young conductors. WYS often collaborates with other regional youth orchestras on combined training weekends.
WYS rehearses on Saturday mornings (9.30 am - 12.00 noon) in the Adam Concert Room at the New Zealand School of Music. WYS morning teas are legendary!
Our use of the ACR is made possible by the generous support of the New Zealand School of Music.
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