The 100 members of the Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO) are among the finest pre-professional musicians in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Chosen through highly competitive auditions held throughout the region, they are together for six weeks each summer, initially for a three-week Rehearsal Camp in Hong Kong, then for a three-week international concert tour with celebrated conductors and solo artists. Cellists Yo-Yo Ma, Mischa Maisky, Wang Jian and Alisa Weilerstein, violinists Gidon Kremer, Gil Shaham, Elmar Oliveira, Young Uck Kim, Suwanai Akiko and Cho-Liang Lin, soprano Elly Ameling, pianists Alicia de Larrocha, Cecile Licad, Leon Fleisher and Jean Louis Steuerman and the Beaux Arts Trio are among those who have performed with AYO under the direction of principal conductor James Judd, music director emeritus Sergiu Comissiona, Alexander Schneider, Tan Dun, and the orchestra’s co-founders, Yehudi Menuhin and Richard Pontzious. Since its inaugural concerts in 1990 the award-winning Asian Youth Orchestra has played some 325 concerts in Asia, Europe, the US and Australia to an audience of more than one million concertgoers. Millions more around the world have seen and heard the orchestra on CNN, CNBC, NHK, RTHK Hong Kong, and Star TV. A staggering 20,000 musicians, ranging in age from 17 to 27, have auditioned for AYO. Those selected for the full scholarship program study with an exceptional artist-faculty of principals from the Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Atlanta and San Francisco symphony orchestras, Brussels’ Monnaie Opera, the Triple Helix Trio, and the Boston and Peabody music conservatories. The Asian Youth Orchestra is a tax-exempt non-profit organization qualified under Section 88 of the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Ordinance. Contributions from the United States are tax-exempt through Give2Asia.
