Next Concert: Wednesday 18th March 2026
The Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra is Britain’s leading orchestra for young musicians on the threshold of their professional careers. It provides invaluable experience to those who are studying or have recently completed their training, but are not yet established in the profession.
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Unlike many similar organisations in Europe and the USA, this orchestra does not benefit from any government subsidy. We receive no public funding of any sort and are therefore entirely dependent on the generosity of individuals, charitable foundations and corporate sponsors.
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Next auditions
Applications for the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra 2026-2028 are now closed.
The next round of auditions will take place in 2028.
Our Influence over the years
There is not an orchestra in the British Isles that doesn’t contain alumni of the YMSO. As a testament to how influential they feel their time at YMSO was, many of them return to the orchestra to tutor at rehearsals and also advise.
VIEW OUR ALUMNI
"these students represent the next generation of orchestral musicians who will continue our great classical tradition into the new millennium. The orchestra needs all your encouragement and support."
Lord Menuhin
President 1993-1999
Our next concert is less than a week to go, and we are really looking forward to working with British mezzo-soprano Lily Mo Browne🎶
Winner of the 70th Kathleen Ferrier award, Lily Mo Browne is a 25-year-old mezzo-soprano from East London. She is a recent graduate of the Royal College of Music, London, and is a 2025/2026 Young Artist at the National Opera Studio, London studying under Ben Johnson. She is generously supported by the Drake Calleja Trust and Lionel and Marylynn Anthony.
Lily recently debuted the roles of Dido in Dido and Aeneas, and made her international debut as Filippyevna in Eugene Onegin at the Verbier Festival as an Academie Lyrique Young Artist. In 2026, she will join soprano Sonja Yoncheva and the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for their concert performance and recording of Dvořák’s Rusalka as the Third Wood Nymph.
An avid recitalist, Lily has performed recitals with the London Song Festival, Hurn Court Opera, Luton Music Club and Somerset Song, alongside pianists Roger Vignoles, James Baillieu and Simon Lepper, and will join Iain Burnside and Iain Tindale next year for two recitals at the Ludlow English Song Weekend. She is thrilled to make her Cadogan Hall debut performing Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra in March 2026. She has taken part in masterclasses with Dame Sarah Connolly, Roderick Williams OBE, Barbara Frittoli, Kate Lyndsey and Thomas Hampson. More notable competition success includes 3rd prize at the Junior Ferrier competition in 2019, 1st prize at the Somerset Song Prize, where she also received the Audience Prize, 1st prize in the AESS’s Patricia Routledge Senior Song Prize, and the Sarah Harrison Prize in Hurn Court Opera’s Singer of the Year competition. Lily was awarded with the Laurus Florentiae in Florence in 2025, where she also won the award for the Best Performance of an Italian Aria.
Come and listen to Lily perform Elgar's Sea Pictures with us on Wednesday 18th March, 7.30pm at Cadogan Hall🌊
TICKETS ON SALE NOW🎫:
cadoganhall.com/whats-on/young-musicians-symphony-orchestra-with-lily-mo-browne/ ... See MoreSee Less
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In its second concert of 2026, the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra returns to Cadogan Hall for an evening of music by Tchaikovsky, Elgar, and Stravinsky 🎶
The evening opens with Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien, a work inspired by the sunny skies and folk tunes of Italy. Next, YMSO is joined by mezzo-soprano Lily Mo Browne in Elgar’s Sea Pictures, from the gentle rocking of “Sea Slumber-Song” to the thundering “white horses” of “The Swimmer,” capturing every mood of the ocean in one breathtaking cycle 🌊
The second half of the concert features Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Under the direction of conductor James Blair, the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra dives into the world of Prince Ivan and the magical bird that shatters the spells of the immortal Koschei 🐦🔥
TICKETS ON SALE NOW 🎟️: cadoganhall.com/whats-on/young-musicians-symphony-orchestra-with-lily-mo-browne/ ... See MoreSee Less
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Not long to go! Applications close at the end of the day tomorrow (Sunday 15th February) ❗️Only a few days left to apply for the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra 2026-2028! 🎉
Head over to ymso.org.uk/audition to apply. Applications are open for: Woodwind, Brass, Strings, Harp, Percussion, and Keyboard 🎹
Application deadline: Sunday 15th February 2026 ❗️ ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
Only a few days left to apply for the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra 2026-2028! 🎉
Head over to ymso.org.uk/audition to apply. Applications are open for: Woodwind, Brass, Strings, Harp, Percussion, and Keyboard 🎹
Application deadline: Sunday 15th February 2026 ❗️ ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook