WEl Sistema is a publicly financed, voluntary sector, music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu. It later adopted the motto "Music for Social Change." El Sistema-inspired programs provide what the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies describes as "free classical music education that promotes human opportunity and development for impoverished children." By 2015, according to official figures, El Sistema included more than 400 music centers and 700,000 young musicians. The original program in Venezuela involves four after-school hours of musical training and rehearsal each week, plus additional work on the weekends. Most El Sistema-inspired programs in the United States provide seven or more hours of instruction per week, as well as free use of an instrument.
WA youth orchestra is an orchestra made of young musicians, typically ranging from pre-teens or teenagers to those of conservatory age. Depending on the age range and selectiveness, they may serve different purposes. Orchestras for young students have the primary purpose of music education, often led by a conductor who is also a music teacher. Some youth orchestras have been set up by professional symphony orchestras, both as a training ground for future players, and as part of their community outreach program. This is particularly common in the United States, examples including the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the New York Youth Symphony.
WThe American Russian Young Artists Orchestra (ARYO), founded in 1987 as the American Soviet Youth Orchestra, was a philanthropic and diplomatic training orchestra for young musicians, vocalists and conductors from the United States and the former Soviet Union, primarily Russia.
WThe Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz was formed by order of the SS in 1943, during the Holocaust, in the Auschwitz II-Birkenau extermination camp in German-occupied Poland. Active for 19 months—from April 1943 until October 1944—the orchestra consisted of mostly young female Jewish and Slavic prisoners, of varying nationalities, who would rehearse for up to ten hours a day to play music regarded as helpful in the daily running of the camp. They also held a concert every Sunday for the SS.
WThe European Federation of National Youth Orchestras (EFNYO) is the association of the national youth orchestras of Europe. Its mission statement is to "provide a unique platform for the exchange of experience in orchestra training". It is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
WGustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO) is a youth orchestra based in Vienna, Austria, founded in 1986 by conductor Claudio Abbado.
WThe Hong Kong Festival Orchestra (HKFO) is one of the biggest youth orchestra and choir organisations in Hong Kong.
WThe Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela is a Venezuelan orchestra. Named after the Venezuelan national hero Simón Bolívar, it is the apex of the nation's system of youth orchestras, although by 2011, it was no longer officially a youth orchestra because the average age of the players had risen too high. It was replaced as the national youth orchestra by the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra.
WSiam Sinfonietta is a youth orchestra founded in 2010 by Thai-American composer Somtow Sucharitkul, Thai conductor Trisdee na Patalung, and the Bangkok Opera Foundation. It was created in order to provide intensive training for young Thai musicians intending to have a serious career in classical music. The orchestra operates out of the offices of the Bangkok Opera Foundation.
WThe Simón Bolívar Youth Symphonic Band (SBYSB) is a wind band based in Caracas, Venezuela and the principal band of El Sistema. Since 2008, its principal conductor has been Sergio Rosales.
WThe South African National Youth Orchestra Foundation is a non-profit organisation in the music education and development sector. The Foundation supports the training and development of South Africa's young musicians through national courses, national and international tours and workshops, and networks nationally and internationally. It also assists regional youth orchestra and music education programmes countrywide. It organises youth orchestra courses, where the South African National Youth Orchestras are formed. This has included the South African National Youth Orchestra, South African National Concert Orchestra, the South African National Wind Orchestra, the South African National Youth Baroque Orchestra, South African National Youth Brass and the South African National Youth String Orchestra. Members of these orchestras are under the age of 25.