NYO Ascent in reviews

We marked the start of the New Year with an ‘earth-shaking’ tour in London, Nottingham and Coventry.
Dani Howard – Ascent Bedřich Smetana Vltava (The Moldau) from Má vlast Richard Strauss – Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64 (Alpine Symphony) The National Youth Orchestra Sir Mark Elder

The first residency and tour of 2024 for the Orchestra is now over and the reviews for NYO Ascent are in! We marked the start of the New Year with an ‘earth-shaking’ tour in London, Nottingham and Coventry, and a live-stream to every corner of the UK from a sold-out Barbican Centre.  

The 156 musicians of the Orchestra were also joined by several NYO Alumni and NYO Inspire musicians to form a 170-piece ensemble. Conducted by Sir Mark Elder they performed Smetana’s Vltava, Strauss’s Alpine Symphony and the World Premiere of Ascent by Dani Howard which was written especially for The National Youth Orchestra and requires seventeen horns! 

 

Towards the end, there came the heart-shaking triumph of attaining the summit, when everyone from the thunder-sheet rattler to the back-desk violists played as if their lives depended on it.
The Telegraph
4/5
The single-file entry of the horns, spreading themselves along the front of the stage and then alternately facing front or back, was striking.
The Times
4/5
The Orchestra took all this in their stride, serving precision, accuracy and a fierce sense of rhythmic drive and dynamic nuance.
The Guardian
4/5
An ensemble that can blow the walls out and the roof off.
Seen and Heard International

 A wide range of NYO Open activities took place alongside the performances and brought musical opportunities to young musicians from Nottingham, Coventry and London, with around 1000 teenagers witnessing their generation get behind orchestral music in concert halls with our Free for Teens offer.  

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