skip navigation | text only | accessibility | site map
Share

NSO Education

NSO Youth Fellowship Program

[image of cello]
Watch & Listen

View online videos of NSO Fellows in Recital on the Millennium Stage.

Youth Fellowship Program will be enhanced with a Chamber Music Component, open to talented high school musicians, grades 9-12, including those who study with teachers outside of the NSO. See application for instrument eligibility.

The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Youth Fellowship Program is an orchestral training program for students in grades 9-12. [Younger musicians (gr. 6-8) may be considered on a special case-by-case basis.] Past NSO Youth Fellowship participants have gone on to achieve great success with orchestras throughout the country including Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cleveland, Houston, and our own National Symphony Orchestra. The program is intended for serious music students interested in pursuing orchestral music as a career. Open by audition only, this full-scholarship program provides students in grades 9-12 in the Washington, DC metropolitan area the opportunity to study with a National Symphony Orchestra musician*; Chamber Music coaching by a member of the National Symphony Orchestra; observe rehearsals and attend concerts; and participate in master classes and discussions with musicians, conductors, guest artists, and NSO/Kennedy Center management. This is a monitored, performance-oriented program, designed to encourage students to become professional orchestral musicians. Participation by ethnic minorities is encouraged. Priority is given to students entering 9th and 10th grades in order to provide as sustained a training as possible.

*Note: Students may opt instead to continue their private study with their current non-NSO teacher. Lesson fees with non-NSO musicians will not be covered by the Program.