Sydney Youth Orchestra

The Sydney Youth Orchestra (SYO) is a youth orchestra based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and is the premier orchestral training ground in Australia for many young musicians. Since its founding in 1973 by Peter Seymour, a legendary music educator, it has provided orchestral training to thousands of young musicians (aged between 6 and 25 years) whom are required to audition annually to be placed in orchestras and ensembles (say: on-song-bulls) best to meet their stage of development as a musician.

It is part of the larger organisation called Sydney Youth Orchestra Inc, which provides a pathway for young musicians from beginner to pre-professional. Sydney Youth Orchestra Inc is also the largest orchestral training provider in Australia.^[1] SYO receives less than 10% of its income through funding from state government grants, and 35% from student participation fees.

SYO is made up of 9 ensembles split up into 4 groups (Prep, Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3) and has 6 major stand-alone orchestras.

• SYO Prep (for beginner string players)
• Stage 1 Yellow
• Stage 1 Orange* Stage 2 Red
• Stage 2 Blue
• Stage 3 Silver
• Stage 3 Purple

• Peter Seymour Orchestra (PSO)
  The Peter Seymour Orchestra (PSO), named after the founder of the Sydney Youth Orchestra Association.
• Symphonic Wind Orchestra (SWO)
  The Symphonic Wind Orchestra (SWO) provides training for over 70 young wind, brass and percussion musicians from across NSW.
• Western Sydney Youth Orchestra (WSYO)
  Established in 2017 to support orchestra music in Western Sydney.
• Richard Gill Chamber Orchestra (RGCO)
  The Richard Gill Chamber Orchestra (formerly known as Stage 4 Strings) is the springboard to the Symphonic Orchestral Program.
• SYO Philharmonic (SYOP)
  SYOP is the second most senior ensemble, composed of 70 young musicians.
• Sydney Youth Orchestra (The.SYO)
  SYO is the top orchestra of the Sydney Youth Orchestras Inc family. Largely comprising pre-professional players aged 18-25, many of Australia’s finest musicians have performed in this orchestra as they transition into the professional music industry.^[2]

Since 1973, SYO has over 5,500 alumni. Many of them still take musical occupations, with some also taking business and corporate fields.

• Sam Weller (2017-19)
• Leonard Weiss (Create NSW Orchestral Conductor Fellowship, 2021-22)
• Aija Draguns (Create NSW Orchestral Conductor Fellowship, 2022-23)

• List of youth orchestras

• Official website (syo.com.au)