The City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra is one of the UK’s leading independent youth orchestras, recently celebrating its 40th Anniversary. CSYO provides valuable orchestral and musical training, develops vital skills such as communication, critical thinking and self-confidence and has helped many members take a first step into a wide range of professions.
CSYO is a unique youth orchestra, offering membership to students up to the age of 21. We have around 80 members aged between 13 and 21. Many of our older students are at college or university, training to be professional musicians. But we also have many students studying other subjects who want to keep performing at a high level. And we have plenty turning 22 who don’t want to leave!
We hold three courses a year which usually fall at the following times:
Winter course – non-residential course, 27-30th December
Spring course – 5 day residential in the Easter holiday
Summer course – 10 days at start of school holidays. Non-residential and tour
We appreciate that students may want to revise over the Easter holidays running up to exams. Our Spring course is specially designed to allow students to have at least 4 hours revision per day.
Each Summer we go on tour, alternating between touring the UK and abroad. Previous tours have taken us to Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Spain, France, Italy, Norway and the Netherlands. We perform with internationally renowned soloists such as Nigel Kennedy, Peter Cropper, Matthew Barley and Natalie Clein.
We perform in churches, on beaches, in continental village squares, in palaces (Palazzo Vechio in Florence), imposing concert halls (Manuella concert Hall in Granada) and even Roman Amphitheatres. We have played to audiences of over 5,000 people and been broadcast live on Radio across Europe.
In 2005, we were honoured to be the first western Youth Orchestra to be invited to accompany the Bolshoi dancers performing Swan Lake in a Roman Amphitheatre in Pula, Croatia. The event was recorded by television crews from across the continent.
In 2018 we returned to Italy to perform in the Emiglia Romagna region.
