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The New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (NBYO) is a youth symphony orchestra of approximately 70-75 musically talented young people who reside in New Brunswick. We have a great programme. NBYO won an East Coast Music Association-ECMA Award in 2008 for the Forbidden City Tour CD, recorded in China during the 2007 orchestra tour. A second ECMA Award nomination (DVD of the Year category) was received by NBYO in 2011 for the Blues on the Boulevard live recorded concert with Matt Andersen and Les Muses.

NBYO members traveled to Austria in the summer of 2011 to perform and compete in the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival. Concerts were performed in Salzburg, Vienna, Poetsching, and Berndorf. Two NBYO performances were given at the magnificent Wiener Musikverein Vienna--Golden Hall, reputed to be one of the three best concert halls in the world. The Festival jury praised NBYO in the competition, awarding the orchestra "1st place in the category Symphony Orchestra with outstanding succes". Under the brilliant direction of Conducor Antonio Delgado, NBYO performed Conga del Fuego Nuevo by the Mexican composer Arturo Márquez at the Gala Winners Concert and received the first standing ovation in the history of the SCL Festival.

We are always looking for talented student musicians to join the orchestra. Although a considerable commitment is demanded from our orchestra members, we provide a great deal in return, both to the orchestra membership and to the Province. Indeed, we are the “Provincial Youth Orchestra;” as we often represent New Brunswick in many of our activities. A NBYO string quartet performed at the home of the Canadian Ambassador in Vienna, Austria on Canada Day--July 1st, 2011.

2011 String Quartet (L to R): Lydia Mainville, Emily Fox, Sarah Harrigan, and Chloe Squance

The sizes of the orchestra sections are as follows: flute (3-4, may include piccolo); oboe (3-4, may include cor anglais); clarinet (3-4, may include bass clarinet); bassoon (3-4); French horn (4-5); trumpet (3-4, may include flugelhorn or cornet); trombone (3); tuba (1); percussion (3-5), including timpani); keyboard (1 – optional - drawn from the orchestra); harp; violin (20-24, in 2 sections); viola (6-8); violoncello (8); contrabass (2- 4). Actual numbers will vary from year to year, depending on availability of players with sufficient ability.

All orchestra positions are open every year; previous participation in NBYO is not a guarantee of re-admission to the orchestra, or of promotion within the section.