Philadelphia Youth Orchestra


The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra is the flagship symphonic ensemble for advanced youth musicians in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the principal performing ensemble of the , offering advanced orchestral training and performance opportunities for young musicians.
The orchestra has played music by such composers as Gustav Mahler, Ludwig van Beethoven, Dmitri Shostakovich, Antonín Dvořák, Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Sergei Prokofiev, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, and more. The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra has been widely acclaimed by newspapers such as The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The UK Post.
In addition to playing local venues such as Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center, PYO has participated in numerous international tours with sold-out concerts in countries such as Brazil, Poland, Vienna, China, Czech Republic, Italy, Russia, Jordan, Israel, Spain, England, Switzerland, France, Germany, Argentina, Uruguay, The British Isles, and Australia.

Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Music Institute

The PYO Music Institute provides nationally recognized music education and performance experiences to young instrumentalists, while engaging audiences and communities throughout the Greater Delaware Valley Region and beyond. Ranging in age from 5 to 22 years, the musicians of the PYO Music Institute come from a 70-mile radius of Philadelphia, encompassing nearly 20 counties within Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
The organization has eleven programs:
  • Philadelphia Youth Orchestra
  • Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra
  • Bravo Brass
  • Prysm Strings – Main Line
  • Tune Up Philly - Orchestral Pathways Program
  • Young Musicians Debut Orchestra
  • Pizzicato Players
  • Philadelphia Youth Jazz Orchestra
  • Philadelphia Youth Symphonic Band
  • Prysm Strings – New Jersey
  • Philadelphia Youth Concert Band
PYOMI also provides summer programming for jazz, band, and string musicians.
Former PYOMI musicians currently hold chairs in most of the top 20 professional orchestras in the United States, with 7 PYO alumni currently serving in The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Extraordinary artistic leadership is a hallmark of the PYO Music Institute. Adolph Sorian, J.W.F. Leman, William R. Smith, and Joseph Primavera served as Music Directors, with Maestro Primavera having had the extraordinary distinction of being the longest-serving active conductor of any orchestra in the world. Louis Scaglione, appointed in 1997 by Maestro Primavera and the PYOMI Board of Trustees, continues the legacy of leadership, currently serving as the PYO Music Institute’s President, CEO and Music Director.

Notable alumni

  • Joseph Hallman, composer
  • Elizabeth Pitcairn, violinist
  • Troy Peters, viola, conductor, composer
  • Jeffrey Milarsky, percussion
  • Peter Smith, oboe
  • Eric Owens, oboe
  • Christian McBride, bass