Catalyst roundup and BBC Radio 3 broadcast 

The Spring Residency and tour are over, but we’re still pinching ourselves…  

Earlier this month, the entire NYO community came together: 

• 150 musicians in the Orchestra 
• 50 musicians that participate in NYO Inspire took to the streets of Liverpool with Play the City 
• 200 young people participated in NYO Open events and Side by Side rehearsals with the Orchestra in North-West, East of England and London 
• 26 musicians from The National Brass Band joined us for the Spring Residency and Catalyst tour 
• Over 1,000 teenagers in the audience in concert halls and unexpected places across the UK 

They were all united by music and its power to change lives. 

The concert tour began at The Tung Auditorium, Liverpool, where musicians from The National Youth Orchestra brought to life some of today’s most daring compositions. It featured Ruminations from the Trombone Concerto by our resident artist, Dani Howard, with current NYO musicians and alumni under the spotlight as trombone soloists.  

Catalyst then travelled to Liverpool Philharmonic Hall and Royal Festival Hall, London, this time with the full Orchestra, joined by The National Brass Band and conductors, Jessica Cottis and Tess Jackson. The concert halls vibrated to the sounds of Gavin Higgins’ show-stopping Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra. After the interval, the joint forces played a spirited Fanfare by Dani Howard, followed by the defiant strains of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5. Whilst at Southbank Centre, ‘NYO players took to the ballroom under their own steam’ before the Catalyst performance even began, moving the audience to the beats of Julius Eastman’s provocative Stay On It.