Created by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute in the summer of 2016, NYO2 brings together outstanding young American instrumentalists ages 14–17 for a summer orchestra training program with a particular focus on attracting talented students from groups underserved by and underrepresented in the classical music field. Running in conjunction with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America’s (NYO-USA) annual summer residency at Purchase College, SUNY, NYO2 offers an opportunity for participants to play alongside exceptionally talented peers and learn from a world-class faculty. The program aims to expand the pool of young musicians across the country equipped with the tools to succeed at the highest level, particularly those who will bring greater diversity to classical music or those who have not had access to highly selective training opportunities through major youth orchestra programs, summer festivals and camps, or similar experiences outside of their local community.

The inaugural season of NYO2 culminated in a side-by-side concert with The Philadelphia Orchestra at Verizon Hall led by conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, as well as a pop-up performance at the 23rd Street Armory alongside NYO-USA, members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and local instrumentalists from the Philadelphia area. In the summer of 2017, NYO2 made its Carnegie Hall debut with Mr. Guerrero, members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and Grammy Award–winning bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding. This summer, NYO2 partners with the New World Symphony for the first time for a six-day residency in Miami Beach, with performances at the New World Center and Carnegie Hall led by conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto and featuring acclaimed violinist Gil Shaham.

To learn more, visit carnegiehall.org/NYO2.

The New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy (NWS), prepares graduates of music programs for leadership roles in professional orchestras and ensembles. In the 31 years since its co-founding by Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas and Lin and Ted Arison, NWS has helped launch the careers of more than 1,050 alumni worldwide.

A laboratory for the way music is taught, presented, and experienced, NWS consists of 87 young musicians who are granted fellowships that last up to three years. The fellowship program offers in-depth exposure to traditional and modern repertoire, professional development training, and personalized experiences working with leading guest conductors, soloists, and visiting faculty. Relationships with these artists are extended through NWS’s extensive distance learning via the internet.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are high priorities for NWS. They are critical in preparing the fellows for leadership roles in orchestras and ensembles, and an essential part of the vision of a strong and secure future for classical music.

Carlos Miguel Prieto’s charismatic conducting and expressive interpretations have led to major engagements and popular acclaim throughout North America and Europe. Recognized as the leading Mexican conductor of his generation, he has served as music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México since 2007. The following year, he was appointed music director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería. Mr. Prieto is renowned for championing Latin American music, and has conducted more than 100 world premieres of works by Mexican and American composers, many of which he commissioned.

The 2016–2017 season was Mr. Prieto’s 11th as music director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, where he led the cultural renewal of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. His 2017–2018 season included debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, as well as return engagements with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

Since 2002, alongside Gustavo Dudamel, Mr. Prieto has conducted the YOA Orchestra of the Americas, which draws young musicians from the entire American continent. A staunch proponent of music education, Mr. Prieto served as principal conductor of YOA from its inception until 2011, when he was appointed music director.

A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Mr. Prieto studied conducting with Jorge Mester, Enrique Diemecke, Charles Bruck, and Michael Jinbo.

Gil Shaham is one of the foremost violinists of our time. His flawless technique, combined with his inimitable warmth and generosity of spirit, has solidified his renown as an American master. The Grammy Award winner, also named Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year (2012), is sought after around the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors, and regularly gives recitals and performs with ensembles on the world’s great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.

Highlights of recent years include the acclaimed recording and performances of J. S. Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin. In addition to championing these solo works, Mr. Shaham will join pianist and longtime duo partner Akira Eguchi in recitals throughout North America, Europe, and Asia in the coming seasons.

Mr. Shaham regularly appears with such orchestras as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and San Francisco Symphony. He also has held multi-year residencies with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Shaham has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, which have earned him multiple Grammy Awards, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice honors.

Mr. Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and received the coveted Avery Fisher Prize in 2008. He plays the 1699 “Contessa, Princess de Polignac, Bardsley” Stradivarius.