Founded in 2001 by New England Conservatory and Vision, Inc., Youth Orchestra of the Americas (YOA) was inspired by the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela created by José Antonio Abreu. YOA is currently certified as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated in the United States and Venezuela. In 2007, YOA Canada submitted an application for charitable status in Canada.
IMPACT: YOA is much more than great music. It touches the lives of youth and families in underserved communities. It inspires arts, business and government leaders. It performs in the world’s most prestigious concert halls – Teatro Teresa Carreño Caracas, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Konzerthaus Berlin, Palacio de Bellas Artes Mexico City, Philharmonie im Gasteig Munich, Snap Maltings Concert Hall Aldeburgh, and The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington DC, to name a few. YOA guest artists include Plácido Domingo, Yo-Yo Ma, Lorin Maazel, Kent Nagano, Leonard Slatkin, Gabriela Montero, Cristina Gallardo-Domâs and Paquito D’Rivera, among others.
REACH: Since its Inaugural Tour in 2002, YOA has performed over 100 concerts for audiences in the Americas and Europe – in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Italy, México, Panamà, Perú, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. YOA has reached over 8 million people through television & radio broadcasts, CD recordings, print media coverage, and documentary films on the orchestra’s formation, mission and programs.
*A complete performance history is now available here
FOUNDING INSTITUTIONS:
NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY - Founded in 1867, New England Conservatory (NEC) is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools. The college program instructs more than 800 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral music students from around the world, and has a faculty of 225 artist-teachers and scholars. NEC Preparatory School’s 1,500 students and almost 300 faculty members is an example of the institution’s commitment to artistic excellence at all stages of musical training. NEC alumni fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs and recording studios worldwide, including nearly half of the Boston Symphony. NEC’s leadership style, vision, and passion facilitate the use of music as the common cultural and educational bond to reach persons of diverse cultures. Thus, NEC engenders the kind of interaction and exchange that exemplifies its educational, musical and cultural dynamism, as well as global thinking. NEC, a registered not-for-profit music education institution in the United States, initially provided the fiduciary management of YOA.
VISION INC. - Vision, Inc. was created as a non-profit institution dedicated to the promotion of Latin American arts and culture and exchanges between Latin and non-Latin cultures. Led by Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg, CEO of Strategic Investment Group, the board of directors is comprised of Latin American leaders from throughout the western hemisphere, including the Director of the Youth & Children’s Orchestra System of Venezuela, José Antonio Abreu.