Spring / Summer 2026 music thread

Interesting @Compsearch - I do wonder whether the change of focus for universities from extra curricular to supercurricular might have changed that a bit.

you are probably much younger than me but certainly when I went to Oxbridge there was a lot of value placed on d of e and music etc but now unless it’s relevant to your subject they apparently don’t care

lots of nyo past and present at dd’s school. Can’t think of a single person who has been a full member who isn’t going for conservatoire.

But those who are looking for competitive uni for something else would struggle to do the required essay comps /work experience/ other ucas bumf and have time for nyo too. Maybe if you were an actual genius.

It looks like a huge time commitment- obviously brilliant and prestigious but also A Lot.

on the scholarship/nyo thing- lots going on to conservatoire with huge scholarships who haven’t been in nyo.

it is an unusual school of course ..

That is interesting and I think also in certain sections (I only really know about my son’s instrument) they will look to build a section and I think look for longevity. The yrsr he auditioned was the first year post Covid and they went for a pretty young section who then stayed for a number of years.

@Londonmummy66that’s really interesting.

Was it Oxbridge to read music or other subjects? I guess it might be pretty hard for the violins to maintain both NYO standards and academic commitments necessary for eg medicine at Oxbridge.

Brass is a different story as doesn't require hours of practice at this level.

I agree re. NYO offers, looking at players we know - some super talented soloists didn't get in, and even within "orchestra type" players some NYO decisions are not quite obvious.

In some sections, NYO is not a priority as it clashes with higher level specialised projects and "industry placements". A very talented young musician that now plays with an internationally renowned ensemble whilst still at conservatoire was not interested in applying to NYO for this reason.

Yes - although you'd have to have done some to audition for it. There are HP strings and winds doing undergrad at the moment. DD only had 6 months of HP experience due to Covid when she auditioned but got an almost full scholarship as well as the EE offer....

ETA that can always ask to do modern as a second study and if self starting can find people to set up a modern chamber group. DD did both.

Historic info now, but I remember being really surprised on my first NYO course how many people were going to Oxbridge. I only did a year of NYO, in my last year of school, and the Cambridge offers came through while we were on the course. There were about 10 people in my section (out of maybe 25?) who were waiting to find out, 3 in the same college as me! Overall I’d say there were equal numbers going to conservatoire as university, and probably half of them have gone into the profession ultimately (not correlated with where they went at undergrad), so a real mix.

This is interesting. My initial thought was only some? There must be a lot more conservatoire places than NYO seats. But it must be quite a different catchment too in terms of who even wants to join each. Top students may be more interested in solo competitions than playing in such a high commitment orchestra. But equally plenty of NYO players choose academic not performance for their first degree. And then there must be a significant proportion of overseas students at UK conservatoires.

Mine is one of those. Didn’t get into NYO but got numerous conservatoire offers with scholarships. They seem to look for different things and I think his age was against him for NYO as he’d only have had one year with them before he was too old.

@londonmummy66do they do historical strings as first study at undergraduate these days? I think it’s a good shout if you’re sure you only want to do that but for work prospects later it’s useful to have experience of a wide audition repertoire. It’s something we have on a list to try out in due course though.

For some instruments you are more likely to get a conservatoire offer than into NYO so don't second guess whether he will get offers. Although I know plenty who do a gap year to get a better chance of a higher scholarship.

Not sure what instrumnet they play but maybe have athink about the historic performance side so baroque flute/strings/harpsichord? A 2 E offer of a conservatoire place....

You don't have to do the first round audition, but you do have to do the in person one.

We never have.

If you get in to NYO, do you have to audition again the next year?

NCO question….do we need to send a copy of the score? I don’t think so but suddenly wondered….

Thanks horsey. Never quite sure if DD checks email at all, though may be NCO peer group chat will prompt her to!

@nearlyfinishedmusicparent I think it's difficult to predict who will get into NYO. Probably all those invited for live audition are good enough, they are looking to build a section though, so don't necessarily want all people with 'principal player' energy, so you might not be able to guess. ( Actually probably most who do the video audition are good enough too and it's really hard to shine in a video). I wouldn't take it too hard as the numbers of spaces are so few considering they can choose from so many players. I think only two or three string players got in from our JD, and same for wind. It's a great experience but there are lots of other great experiences to be had. ( Happy to chat privately if any one has further questions)
I'm pretty sure it was on the day given that we heard, with unsuccessful ones coming earlier than successful ones, but that may not be the case every year.

Those who've done NYO auditions before, do we expect to hear back on the exact date they said or is it more spread out? Confidently expecting a no, but I'm still terrible at waiting for results.

@achangeofnameisasgoodasarestyes not sure what I think about nyo as he worked really hard last year and the result was very underwhelming, even though it’s one of the less popular string instruments. We are not eligible for inspire either but have a great local youth orchestra which does really ambitious repertoire and he did some LSSO last year. I prefer nycgb as an organisation, they seem more inclusive and flexible.

similar here with prob mainly Uni and two or three conservatoire applications, predicted grades not quite sorted yet so bit in flux about which unis!

@Siriusmuggle congratulations to your DS and best of luck for the next stage! Hopefully there will be some sort of recording.

@nearlyfinishedmusicparent welcome! I’m sure you will be a mine of info for those of us (like me) who are much earlier into the whole thing.

Thanks all. He’s very pleased indeed. He’s still got a resit to do before he can actually graduate though.

@Siriusmuggle congrats to your DS. He must be pretty happy.

@Siriusmuggle congrats to him - what a way to end this stage on a high. Shame you can't see it but you must be so proud.

@nearlyfinishedmusicparent Welcome back. It's a real rollercoaster isn't it, Year 12. I swear no-one is good at the whole music A Level either. DD is going for just two conservatoire auditions and mainly uni - which is quite stressful enough. Not looking forward to any of the process.

Good luck with NYO. DD decided trying for it wasn't for her this year. She had the slightly weird experience last year in that she applied, did a not very good audition, got not particularly helpful or individual feedback, and then kept being heavily pursued by Inspire (which she didn't apply for and isn't eligible for on paper) to do lots of things.

They still send her a lot of emails... I'm not sure how good she is at even responding to them as they no longer copy me in. I know it would have been better for her if she had got involved or at least responded.

However, she didn't really enjoy the Inspire residentials she did - more about her grandma dying when she was away than the actual residentials or anything to do with NYO, and it feels like she has a massive psychological barrier around the whole thing. I feel like writing back to the Inspire people and saying 'I'm so sorry. It isn't you, it's her!'

She loves national youth choir, and lots of other orchestras, so it isn't residentials that are the problem!