July 6 – August 17, 2025
Ages 14 – 19*
Please note: 2025 program dates, lengths, and locations subject to change due to extenuating circumstances.
The Young Artists Orchestra (YAO) has earned the reputation as one of the preeminent summer youth orchestra training programs in the nation. Under the guidance of professional conductors, artist teachers, and Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) members, students experience high-quality training through intensive study and performance of orchestral and chamber music, private lessons, and master classes.
*The Young Artists Orchestra is open to high school students who have not yet begun full-time college or conservatory study.
A Day in the Life
- Daily orchestral rehearsals with three concert performances at Tanglewood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall
- Performance at Tanglewood On Parade at the Koussevitzky Music Shed
- Three private lessons with BUTI faculty, with additional lesson opportunities with BSO members and guests
- Chamber music rehearsals and coachings three times per week with multiple chamber music performing opportunities
- Master classes with some of the world’s most esteemed music professionals (past visits and classes include Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Pinchas Zuckerman, Christian Tetzlaff, Daniel Hope, Lynn Harrell, and Daniel Muller-Schott as well as countless BSO members and guest artists)
- Access to all Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Music Center concerts, as many as 15 events a week
- New music performance opportunities, including new compositions by Young Artists Composition Program students
- 6 hours of transferable course credit
View a Day in the Life
Repertoire
2024 Repertoire
Concert Cycle 1 – July 20, 2024 – 1:30pm
Kerem Hasan, Conductor
BLACHE, Habari Gani
SHOSTAKOVICH, Symphony No. 7, “Leningrad”
Concert Cycle 2 – August 3, 2024 – 1:30pm
Beatrice Affron, Conductor
DEBUSSY, Prelude to Afternoon of the Faun
ORTÍZ, Antrópolis
STRAVINSKY, Firebird Ballet
Concert Cycle 3 – August 17, 2024 – 1:30pm
Paul Haas, Conductor
MAHLER, Symphony No. 5
COLEMAN, Ashé
Past Seasons
2023 Season
- CATURLA Three Cuban Dances for Orchestra
- CLYNE Or This Midnight Hour
- ELGAR Enigma Variations
- MAHLER Symphony No. 6
- PRICE Ethiopia’s Shadow in America
- RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Capriccio Espagnole
- SKYE Flames Nurtured by the Rose
- TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5
2022 Season
- BORODIN Polovtsian Dances
- CLYNE Masquerade
- FARRENC Symphony No. 3
- HINDEMITH Symphonic Metamorphosis
- MAHLER Symphony No. 1
- MEYER Go Big or Go Home
- OKOYE Voices Shouting Out
- PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5
- RESPIGHI Pines of Rome
- SMETANA Moldau
2019 Season
- BATES (BUTI’94) Desert Transport
- BRITTEN Sinfonia da Requiem
- MUSSORGSKY arr. RAVEL Pictures at an Exhibition
-
MAZZOLI (BUTI’98) River Rouge Transfiguration
-
GINASTERA Harp Concerto, Op. 25, with
Ann Hobson Pilot, harp
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BRAHMS Symphony No. 2
-
VIVALDI Concerto alla rustica
-
TELEMANN Concerto Polonois
-
HAAS (BUTI’87,’88) … in spiralis…
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DUKAS L’apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice)
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2018 Season
- BERNSTEIN Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety (with Thomas Weaver, piano)
- DEBUSSY La mer
- MENDELSSOHN Overture to Athalia
- PROKOFIEV Selections from Romeo and Juliet, Suite Nos. 1 and 2
- RACHMANINOV Isle of the Dead
- SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2
- STRAVINSKY Le Sacre du printemps
2017 Season
- BIZET Suite No. 2 from L’Arlésienne
- COPLAND Billy the Kid
- HONEGGER Pastorale d’été
- LUTOSŁAWSKI Concerto for Orchestra
- SAINT-SAËNS Phaéton, Op. 39
- SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 10 | Listen
- TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5
- THEOFANIDIS Rainbow Body
2016 Season
- BRAHMS Symphony No. 3
- BRAHMS Variations on a Theme by Haydn
- ENESCU Romanian Rhapsody No. 1
- GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue, Simone Dinnerstein (BUTI ’86, ’87), piano
- MAHLER Symphony No. 6
- SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5
- WAGNER Overture to Die Meistersinger
2015 Season
- BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra
- BEETHOVEN Egmont Overture
- BERNSTEIN Candide Overture
- BERNSTEIN Chichester Psalms (with the BUTI Young Artists Chorus) | Listen
- COPLAND Appalachian Spring
- ELGAR Enigma Variations
- PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5
- TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
2014 Season
- ADÈS “Dances” from Powder Her Face
- BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7
- DVOŘÁK Carnival Overture
- HAAS Father
- MAHLER Symphony No. 5 | Listen
- RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scherherazade
- SIBELIUS Pohjola’s Daughter
- STRAUSS Till Eulenspiegel | Listen
Faculty
Faculty and guest artists are subject to change.
CONDUCTORS – 2024
2024 Strings
- Samantha Bennett, violin
- Miguel Pérez-Espejo Cárdenas, violin
- Caroline Pliszka, violin
- Hsin-Lin Tsai, violin
- Kunjing Dai, viola
- Daniel Doña, viola
- Patrice Jackson, cello
- Hyun Min Lee, cello
- Ira Gold, double bass
- Brian Perry, double bass
2024 Woodwinds (YAO & YAWE)
2024 Brass (YAO & YAWE)
2024 Percussion (YAO & YAWE)
2024 Piano
- Thomas Weaver | Coaching Faculty and Coordinator of Collaborative Piano Fellowship Program
Related Programs
BUTI encourages you to apply to every program for which you’re interested and eligible. Please also consider applying to the following related program(s):
Two-Week Workshops • June 23 – July 6, 2024
Flute Workshop | Oboe Workshop | Clarinet Workshop |
Bassoon Workshop | Woodwind Quintet Workshop |
Saxophone Workshop | French Horn Workshop | Trumpet Workshop
Trombone Workshop | Tuba & Euphonium Workshop | Violin Workshop
Viola Workshop | Cello Workshop | Double Bass Workshop
String Quartet Workshop | Percussion Workshop
Electroacoustic Composition Workshop
Composition Fundamentals Workshop
Young Artists Programs • July 7 – August 17, 2024
Young Artists Wind Ensemble
Tuition, Fees, and Scholarships
The total cost of attending BUTI is based on the total number of weeks in attendance (even if attending more than one program). Find more detailed information here.
Scholarships are awarded based on merit and/or financial need in combination with enrollment needs. Any student applying for scholarship must complete the scholarship section of the admissions application, even if only applying for a merit-based award (the scholarship application is found within the digital admissions application). Students will be notified of any potential scholarship assistance with their admission decision. Learn more about scholarships at BUTI.