THE National Youth Orchestras of Scotland (NYOS) has been nurturing the talents of Scotland’s most promising young musicians for over 40 years. In that time, we have grown from one orchestra to a pathway of 13 ensembles, both classical and jazz, and an annual programme of outreach work.
We have always strongly believed in the holistic benefits of music participation, and the transferable life skills that our projects develop, but this has been brought into sharper focus by the radical and unprecedented change that we have lived through over the past 18 months, which has had a profound impact on young people. While many alumni go on to become professional musicians, even those who do not, still benefit from skills gained through participation, such as confidence-building, social skills, teamwork and a life-long passion for music and creativity.
Music can also foster a sense of community, something we have seen over the past year as we have managed to bring together young players from across Scotland digitally, offering invaluable opportunities to interact and play with peers from across the country at a time when 68% of our members were reporting a reduction in participation in musical activities due to the pandemic.
The opportunity to perform music at a national level with fellow players of a similar ability has always been one of the most beneficial factors of our residential courses, which will run once again in person in 2022.
Young musicians who want to apply to join one of our orchestras in 2022 make a general application to either our classical or jazz programmes. Following auditions, successful applicants are then placed in the most suitable ensemble for their current level of playing. There are varying levels of time commitment depending on the ensemble, but most of our work takes place in the spring and summer school holidays and are comprised of residential courses followed by a performance (Junior and Senior Orchestras) in or tour of (Symphony and Jazz Orchestras) Scotland’s leading concert venues.
Our courses are also opportunities to work with the very best classical and jazz musicians in the industry. Our members receive instrumental tuition from world-class tutors, and every year we engage internationally renowned conductors, soloists, and guest artists.
Our vision is to ensure that Scotland’s most talented young musicians can take part in our work irrespective of background or barriers. This means, in addition to delivering a range of free outreach projects at grassroots level each year, we heavily subsidise all members’ fees, provide additional bursaries of up to 100% according to need, and auditions are free.
This ensures that young people from all education backgrounds and walks of life across Scotland can benefit from our life-changing projects. This will be evermore vital in the challenging post-pandemic landscape, in which it is crucial we continue to engage the promising young artists, musicians and cultural leaders of the future.
Find out more: https://www.nyos.co.uk
Anthony Coia is marketing & communications manager at National Youth Orchestras of Scotland
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