The American Youth Symphony is an orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States, It was founded in 1964. Carlos Izcaray was announced as the third music director in the orchestra's history in 2016.
History
AYS was founded in 1964 by conductor Mehli Mehta, then Director of the Orchestra Department at UCLA. Mehta led AYS for 33 seasons, retiring at age 90. Of his reasons for founding AYS, Mehta said: "It takes a lifetime to learn symphonic literature... When they leave the American Youth Symphony they will have performed all the symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Dvořák, plus the last six symphonies of Mozart, five of Mahler, two of Bruckner and all the Strauss tone poems. To be a musician, you must know these things."
Training
During the 2013/14 season, AYS was composed of 108 musicians from 26 schools. Training with AYS is tuition-free, and acceptance is competitive. Each season, 250-300 applicants audition to fill an average of 30 open positions. Composer and violinist David Newman, said of the training: "It's a place where talented kids... come together every weekend and rehearse, with the idea of performing the standard classical music repertoire. So it's a training orchestra, but it's almost the same as a professional orchestra, the quality is so good... Anyone can play in our group. You have to audition to get in but if you're good, anyone can play."
In May 2012, AYS launched the multi-year "Elfman Project" featuring the scores of composer Danny Elfman, and conducted by Oscar-nominated film composer David Newman. This project follows a similar three-year exploration of the work of film composer Jerry Goldsmith, and serves the dual purpose of training young musicians in the art of playing for film, and restoring and preserving film scores. The Elfman Project has received attention and praise from the film music community, with Justin Craig of Film Score Monthly writing: "The American Youth Symphony stands high, mastering the challenge of performing film music with all its unconventional meters and rhythms. Don’t be deceived by the label of “youth” orchestra; the AYS is the real deal." This project has been supported by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the James Irvine Foundation, and BMI.
Notable alumni
AYS alumni "populate major American orchestras of all stripes and make up significant percentages of most of the major performing ensemble here in Los Angeles." Currently, thirteen AYS alumni perform with the LA Opera, seven with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and fourteen with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Notable alumni include:
