North Carolina Youth Orchestra

North Carolina Youth Orchestra Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from North Carolina Youth Orchestra, Orchestra, Charlotte, NC.

The North Carolina Youth Orchestra is a non-profit youth music education institution for elementary to high school aged students with a complete portfolio of program offerings from beginning classes to full orchestras.

There's still time to get your tickets for NCYO's first ever Educational Classes Showcase tomorrow at Cain Center for th...
04/25/2026

There's still time to get your tickets for NCYO's first ever Educational Classes Showcase tomorrow at Cain Center for the Arts in Cornelius. Get your tickets at www.ncyo.com/tickets!

04/24/2026

We're only 10 days away from our season finale concert! Listen as NCYO student Cooper George tells about composer Emilie Mayer!

🎉Student Spotlight🎉You might recall not long ago we shared that J'Ericson Newby will be attending the North Carolina's G...
04/24/2026

🎉Student Spotlight🎉

You might recall not long ago we shared that J'Ericson Newby will be attending the North Carolina's Governor's School this summer, but that's not all! J'Ericson is a man of many musical talents. This summer he will also attend the Brevard Musical Center 2026 Classical Voice Summer Institute. At the Brevard Musical Center, "Students have extensive work on the foundations of foreign language diction, how to act the song, collaboration with other voices and/or instruments which are performed at weekly recitals, masterclasses, and a program of solo songs and staged opera scenes. As available, students are also invited to audit rehearsals of Brevard’s Janiec Opera Company."

Congratulations, J'Ericson!

🎉🎶CYOSF Faculty Spotlight: Sam Sparrow🎉A North Carolina native, Samuel Sparrow began his position as Section and E-flat ...
04/23/2026

🎉🎶CYOSF Faculty Spotlight: Sam Sparrow🎉

A North Carolina native, Samuel Sparrow began his position as Section and E-flat Clarinet with the Charlotte Symphony in 2017 and also served as Acting Principal Clarinet in the 2018-19 season. In addition to his post in the Charlotte Symphony, Mr. Sparrow has performed with the New York Philharmonic; Charleston, North Carolina, and New World Symphonies; and Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland. He has collaborated with many of today’s leading conductors and soloists, including Valery Gergiev, Alan Gilbert, Charles Dutoit, Yuja Wang, and Martin Fröst.

As a soloist, he has appeared with the Raleigh Symphony, Garner Sinfonia, and Triangle Youth Philharmonic. Each summer, he also performs at the Seven Hills Chamber Music Festival in Lynchburg, VA. Other performance highlights include a featured appearance with Sting at the Main Assembly Hall of the United Nations and the West Coast premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s chamber opera, Second Nature.

In addition to performing, Mr. Sparrow is an avid proponent of music education. He joined Queens University of Charlotte as Adjunct Professor in 2019 and has also offered presentations at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Appalachian State and Winthrop Universities, and Hebrew Union College. He regularly gives coachings at local schools throughout Charlotte and serves on the artistic faculty of the North Carolina Youth Orchestras and as a coach for the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. His private students have performed in numerous honors bands throughout the region, including as top chairs at the NC All-State Band.

The recipient of the Leon Russianoff Memorial Scholarship, Mr. Sparrow earned his Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. His primary teachers include Mark Nuccio, Anthony McGill, and Pascual Martinez. During his summers, he furthered his studies at the Brevard Music Center’s Orchestral Institute and the Music Academy of the West in California.

🎉🎓Senior Spotlight🎓🎉Congratulations, John Johnson! Thank you for being a part of NCYO. We can't wait to see what the fut...
04/23/2026

🎉🎓Senior Spotlight🎓🎉

Congratulations, John Johnson! Thank you for being a part of NCYO. We can't wait to see what the future holds for you!

🎉🎻CYOSF Faculty Spotlight 🎻🎉Christopher James Lees: ConductorEmerging American conductor Christopher James Lees brings p...
04/22/2026

🎉🎻CYOSF Faculty Spotlight 🎻🎉

Christopher James Lees: Conductor

Emerging American conductor Christopher James Lees brings passionate and nuanced orchestral performances to the stage, a fierce commitment to contemporary music, and a natural charisma to audiences all around the world.

In 2018, Mr. Lees began an appointment as Resident Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra. In addition to the more than 50 annual concert appearances with the CSO, he has annually stepped in to conduct Subscription Classical performances on five occasions, including two gala concerts with legendary artists and Grammy Award winners Branford Marsalis and Rhiannon Giddens, respectively.

A recipient of a Career Assistance Grant from the Solti Foundation US, Mr. Lees was also chosen for showcase on the Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation National Conductor Preview, hosted by the League of American Orchestras and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

A dedicated advocate for music of our time, Mr. Lees has premiered more than one hundred fifty new works by a diverse range of composers, and collaborated closely with Pulitzer Prize winners John Adams, William Bolcom, John Corigliano, Jennifer Higdon, Joseph Schwantner, Steven Stucky, Caroline Shaw, Roger Reynolds, and Julia Wolfe.

An equally passionate advocate for music education, Mr. Lees has brought inspirational energy to student orchestras across the country, from the Colburn School to the Shepherd School at Rice University and the New England Conservatory.

A native of Washington, D.C., Mr. Lees holds bachelors and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, and has studied conducting with Larry Rachleff and Robert Spano, as well as having participated in masterclasses with Lorin Maazel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Gustav Meier, and Jorma Panula.

🎻🎉CYOSF Faculty Spotlight🎉🎻Conductor: Tara Villa KeithShe is in my twenty-first season as a professor of music and direc...
04/21/2026

🎻🎉CYOSF Faculty Spotlight🎉🎻

Conductor: Tara Villa Keith

She is in my twenty-first season as a professor of music and director of the Davidson College Symphony Orchestra (DCSO). She was the music director for 11 seasons with the Lee County Community Orchestra (LCCO) in Sanford, North Carolina, and has served as a guest conductor, cover conductor, and pre-concert speaker for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra where was the premiere instructor for their Symphony 101 adult education program.

In 2019, she was recognized as an Honored Artist of The American Prize, a series of non-profit national competitions in the performing arts. Honored Artists are individuals who have proven themselves to be artists of sustained excellence over a number of seasons as laureates in the competitions. Under her direction, the DCSO was the national winner of The American Prize 2018 for orchestral performance in the collegiate division. She also placed in several other American Prize competitions for conducting and orchestral programming, and in conjunction with Artist Associate Jacquelyn Culpepper, she won the Metrolina Theatre Association’s Award for Outstanding Musical Direction/Conducting for Davidson College’s 2011 production of Sondheim’s Into the Woods.

Outside of Davidson, she has conducted orchestras throughout the south and northeast and has particularly enjoyed serving as a clinician and guest conductor for middle and high school orchestras in North Carolina. She has also guest conducted orchestras in Brazil and Germany, and in Bulgaria, she won the first Varna International Conducting Competition in 2007. She also worked with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic in the Czech Republic as a 2008 League of American Orchestras Women Conductors Grant recipient.

🎉🎓Senior Spotlight🎓🎉Congratulations, Holland Grace! Thank you for being a part of NCYO! We know you have a bright future...
04/21/2026

🎉🎓Senior Spotlight🎓🎉

Congratulations, Holland Grace! Thank you for being a part of NCYO! We know you have a bright future ahead of you!

🎻🎉CYOSF Faculty Spotlight🎉🎻Eric Boruff: Carolina Youth Orchestra Founder and Artistic DirectorEric Boruff is the music d...
04/20/2026

🎻🎉CYOSF Faculty Spotlight🎉🎻

Eric Boruff: Carolina Youth Orchestra Founder and Artistic Director

Eric Boruff is the music director and President of the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Youth Orchestras. Born in North Carolina but raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Eric returned to the Tar Heel state in May of 2016 after receiving his degree in music education. Primarily a violinist, he founded his own violin lesson studio in 2017. Since that time, Boruff Violin Studio has grown to include a team of teachers and has become one of the largest violin-exclusive lesson studios in North Carolina. His studio has welcomed world-renowned violinists as guest instructors for masterclasses and workshops, including Alexi Kenney and William Hagen. Mr. Boruff’s private students are regularly accepted into collegiate music schools across the country.

In December of 2017, Eric began working with the Cornelius Youth Orchestras, which would become the North Carolina Youth Orchestra in 2025, as a violin section coach and guest conductor, and one year later he accepted his current position. Originally just one ensemble, under his leadership the NCYO has seen explosive growth, more than quadrupling enrollment while adding eight new performing ensembles, four educational programs featuring no-experience-required instructional classes for each of the instrument families. In 2026, NCYO expanded again to include youth chorus.

Driven by the vision of fostering collaboration within the Charlotte music education community, Eric led the founding of the Carolina Youth Orchestra Summer Festival. This groundbreaking annual festival, created through partnerships with local youth orchestras and collegiate music departments, is a testament to the participating organizations’ commitment to providing the very best opportunities for the next generation of musicians.

In recognition of his significant contributions to the arts and education in the greater Charlotte region, Eric was honored as one of Charlotte’s Top 30 Under 30 Future Leaders in 2024.

The LKN MPI team is headed to Lincoln Heights Montessori School today! Thanks to for sponsoring this visit!
04/20/2026

The LKN MPI team is headed to Lincoln Heights Montessori School today! Thanks to for sponsoring this visit!

Address

Charlotte, NC

Telephone

+17047106498

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when North Carolina Youth Orchestra posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Establishment

Send a message to North Carolina Youth Orchestra:

Shortcuts

Share

Category