Blair Academy at Vanderbilt will host auditions for its Vanderbilt Youth Orchestras August 8-18, 2024. Open to students in the 3rd through 12th grades, students are invited to audition to be placed in one of Blair’s six performance ensembles.
2024 audition dates will be:
- August 8-18 – Curb Youth Symphony and Philharmonia
- August 10 and 17 – Nashville Youth Repertory Orchestra, Youth Strings Orchestra, Reading Orchestra, and Beginning Reading Orchestra
* Click here to register for VYO auditions and for more information on the program.
Recognized as one of the premier youth orchestra programs in the Southeast, VYO frequently draws students from across Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama. Through its partnership with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and as a part of the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music Academy, students are provided with unforgettable opportunities to learn and perform in state-of-the-art venues while interacting with professional instructors and musicians of the highest level.
Directed by Blair professor Craig Madole, VYO’s coming year is an exciting one with many program enhancements for students. “This year we look forward to continuing to serve the music education needs of our community and our state in a more robust way,” said Madole. “We are excited about several additions to our faculty and new program experiences that will demonstrate our commitment to offering a world-class, pedagogically based youth orchestra program.”
New in fall 2024, the Curb Youth Symphony will welcome incoming artistic director and conductor Ernesto Estigarribia Mussi. Also serving as the director of the Vanderbilt University Orchestra, Mussi is an acclaimed conductor who is celebrated for his work with symphonies across the US and around the world.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be appointed artistic director of the Curb Youth Symphony!” said Estigarribia Mussi. “The passion and dedication of these young musicians is truly inspiring. Together, we will explore the vast potential of orchestral music, nurturing their talent and igniting a lifelong love for the art form. I can’t wait to begin this exciting journey.”
The VYO program is also excited to announce that Giancarlo Guerrero will conduct the Curb Youth Symphony in a side-by-side concert performance with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Center on May 15, 2025. Maestro Guerrero’s commitment to support and invest in Middle Tennessee students has been pivotal and sustaining for music education in our area.
On the podium with students, “Guerrero addresses students with respect as future professionals in the craft and teaches them every moment with all of his heart,” said Madole. “It is not uncommon for him to selflessly pour into them after a rehearsal, engaging them with the importance of their future as musicians and young adults.”
Founded in 1972, Vanderbilt Youth Orchestras has provided high-quality orchestral experiences at all levels, offering a fun, supportive, and challenging learning environment. Members of the ensembles study with professional conductors and coaches from the Blair School of Music faculty and the Nashville Symphony.