Nottingham Youth Orchestra

One of the country's top orchestras for young people

As one of the country’s top orchestras for 8-18 year olds, Nottingham Youth Orchestra has been inspiring and developing the musical talent of young musicians since 1985.

NYO comes 'highly recommended' by our parents and members. Here are some post-concert online comments: 'Amazing', 'brilliant', 'fabulous', 'thrilling', 'wonderful performance'.

During lockdown we missed our weekly rehearsals and so to continue to enjoy playing music together we ran three virtual orchestras. This is the first virtual performance from our amazing senior orchestra on YouTube.

Prokofiev - Dance of the Knights from 'Romeo & Juliet'

Sheku Kanneh Mason OBE performing a solo with the NYO

“When I played the Haydn Cello Concerto with NYO in 2017, after winning BBC Young Musician 2016, it felt like coming home. I was returning to where I first began understanding and loving orchestral playing, and I was proud to be the soloist for such a brilliant youth orchestra.”
— Sheku Kanneh-Mason MBE

Nottimgham Youth Training Orchestra rehearsal for the 2022 concert

Inspiring musical talent since 1985

Nottingham Youth Orchestra has been enriching Nottinghamshire’s musical life and inspiring young people since it was founded in 1985 by Derek Williams and Stephen Fairlie.

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5 orchestras to suit all abilities!

The five orchestras under the NYO umbrella have fun learning as part of a team, working in their groups to play to the best of their ability.

View all NYO orchestras

Conductor standing infront of the Orchestra conducting them

Interested in joining?

Would you like to develop your passion for music and perform better than you thought? Experience a welcome distraction from academic studies, with a chance to let off steam and immerse in an exciting sound world.

Join now