This summer, the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America will embark on its first-ever tour of Latin America.
The 2017 Latin America tour will run from July 26 through August 4, stopping in Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia.
“For the past five years, the National Youth Orchestra of the USA has challenged its players to not only perform musically at the highest level, but also to serve as great musical ambassadors for their country,” said Carnegie Hall’s executive and artistic director Clive Gillinson. “The orchestra breaks new ground this summer with this historic trip to Latin America. I know that NYO-USA’s concerts will inspire audiences wherever the orchestra travels with our musicians forming new friendships all along the way and making meaningful connections with people through music.”
Conductor Maestra Alsop and NYO-USA will first perform in Guadalajara, Mexico for a residency at the Auditorio Telmex on July 26, then with the Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de Guadalajara on July 27.
On July 30, the NYO-USA will play at the Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito, Ecuador, followed by a multi-day residency in Bogotá, Colombia, which will include a concert at the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo (August 3) and a joint performance with students from Batuta and the Bogotá Youth Philharmonic (August 4). At each of these stops, players will be able to explore the cities and interact with local musicians.
The orchestra’s main concert program during the tour will include Apu: Tone Poem for Orchestra, a new work by Gabriela Lena Frank that was commissioned especially for NYO-USA by Carnegie Hall. It will be performed alongside John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.
“We know from experience that music is a universal language that bridges cultures around the globe, bringing people closer together” commented Gillinson. “We hope this tour will be a time of great musical and cultural discovery for both our musicians and everyone they will meet throughout this tour.”
NYO-USA fans can follow the orchestra’s trip abroad on social media on facebook.com/nyousa.
