National Youth Orchestra of Slovakia

The Slovak Youth Orchestra was initiated by the Music Centre Slovakia, following the tradition of the Jeunesses Musicales of Slovakia, in order to support education of the young generation of professional musicians and to contribute to the development of orchestra music in Slovakia. The orchestra offers opportunities to study and perform symphonic repertory with renowned conductors and soloists, as well as to attend workshops of chamber music by various composers under professional tuition. The 60 musicians, members of the Slovak Youth Orchestra (age between 16 and 28) are mostly students of conservatories and music academies in Slovakia. In 2017 the Slovak Youth orchestra performed at the Allegretto Festival in Žilina with conductor Martin Majkút and soloist Jakub Čižmarovič, at the Parish Music Summer Nové Zámky and the Piešťany International Music Festival with trumpet soloist Stanislav Masaryk conducted by Benjamin Bayl and at the Primate’s Palace in Bratislava directed by Jozef Horváth, concertmaster of the Slovak Philharmonic. Since May 2017 the Slovak Youth Orchestra is full member of the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras (EFNYO) and enjoys cooperation with similar ensembles in Europe through exchange of ideas and musicians.