Canberra Youth Orchestra
The ACT's premier youth symphony orchestra
Rehearsals: Saturdays 9:00 - 12:00pm at ANU School of Music
The Canberra Youth Orchestra is the premier youth symphony orchestra in the ACT and wider region, bringing together the region’s finest young musicians.
The Canberra Youth Orchestra celebrated 50 years with an incredible program in 2017!
Where can I see the Canberra Youth Orchestra playing next?
The Canberra Youth Orchestra plays at Llewellyn Hall four times a year, at the end of each school term. The 2018 Concert Series features guest soloists performing alongside the Canberra Youth Orchestra:
- Concert 1 | Saturday 24 March 2018 | Opera Gala featuring soloists Tobias Cole, Louise Page and Sarahlouise Owens
- Concert 2 | Saturday 30 June 2018 | featuring the 2018 CYO Concerto Competition Winner, Serena Ford
- Concert 3 | Saturday 29 September 2018 | featuring Canberra singer-songwriter, Lucy Sugerman
- Concert 4 | Saturday 8 December 2018 | featuring Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s concertmaster, violinist Dale Barltrop
For more information visit our Events page.
About the Canberra Youth Orchestra:
Conducted by Leonard Weiss, the CYO performs a diverse range of repertoire and features world-renowned soloists and prides itself on regularly performing Australian and world premieres, partnering with contemporary composers. As well as the Llewellyn Hall concert series, other regular performances include the Canberra International Music Festival, interstate and international tours.
Performance standard: AMEB 8 or equivalent, or AMEB 7+ for woodwind and brass. Participants are expected to be taking additional individual instrumental tuition; this can be arranged with a Music For Canberra tutor if participants don’t already have a private teacher.
Keep up to date with upcoming concerts by regularly checking our Events page, Facebook or Instagram.
Audition for Canberra Youth Orchestra:
Entry to the Canberra Youth Orchestra is by audition; auditions for the 2019 Orchestra will be held in September 2018 – to book or for more information please visit the 2019 Auditions Event.
Conductor: Leonard Weiss
Leonard has been the Canberra Youth Orchestra’s conductor since mid-2015 and has since been recognised as the 2016 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year for Youth Arts and Multimedia, and an ACT Finalist for 2016 Young Australian of the Year.
Earlier this year, Leonard received a Youth InterACT scholarship and was honoured to participate in the 2018 Australian Conducting Academy, conducting the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and studying with maestro Johannes Fritzsch.
In addition to conducting CYO, Leonard is the Musical Director/Conductor of the National Capital Orchestra, the Canberra Sinfonia and the ANU Choral Society.
