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Adelaide Youth Orchestras

Founded in 2001 by then Artistic Director Janis Laurs, Adelaide Youth Orchestras is South Australia’s pre-eminent youth orchestral trainer and concert presenter. Led by Artistic Director, Associate Professor Keith Crellin OAM, AdYO’s orchestras and chamber ensembles present approximately 15 concerts to close to 30,000 people each year.

To allow our 8 to 25 year old musicians to progress in a high-quality, stimulating and rewarding environment, three orchestras support the different stages in our young musicians lives: Adelaide Youth Strings for primary school string musicians; Adelaide Youth Sinfonia for lower high school aged students and our flagship, Adelaide Youth Orchestra attracts high school and tertiary students including students from the Elder Conservatorium of Music.

Each year some of our most talented senior musicians are selected to become part of AdYO’s percussion ensemble and string quartet. These ensembles perform at major corporate and community events.

Our students rehearse with their orchestra most weekends throughout the year and all receive periods of intensive coaching pertaining to the music they are studying, tutored by leading musicians from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Elder Conservatorium of Music.

AdYO musicians are high achievers and number of current and past students regularly participate in the Australian Youth Orchestras programs or have achieved perfect scores in their SACE Stage II music subjects. Others have gone on to become students at the Australian National Academy of Music, Australian Chamber Orchestra’s emerging artists program ACO2, and some have become professional musicians with Australia’s state orchestras, including the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

Wherever they start or finish, Adelaide Youth Orchestras provide our students with a challenging and rewarding learning environment where excellence is strived for, whilst nurturing their life goals and skills as musicians and community leaders.

Vision, Mission & Values

vision:
To be recognised as the leading Australian youth orchestra, giving young South Australians the opportunity to attain the highest standard of musical performance.

mission:
To provide talented young South Australian musicians with orchestral training, life skills and education in a safe, empowering and joyful environment

values:
We aspire to be excellent in all that we do.

1. Creativity, passion, teamwork, commitment and enjoyment will underpin all our activities.
2. We will demonstrate integrity and accountability at all times.
3. We will aim to be accessible to performers and audience members who in normal circumstances might be unable to participate in our activities.
4. We will recognise the contribution everyone who supports our activities, including players, paid staff and volunteers, members of the corporate and wider community.