Just in: American Youth Symphony is shut down
OrchestrasThe training orchestra, which has been running for 59 years, has run out of options.
“Despite our best efforts, the challenges of maintaining our operations have become insurmountable,” said Kevin Dretzka, Board Chairman. “COVID-19 amplified AYS’s unsustainable financial infrastructure. We have exhausted every effort and hope the larger orchestral industry and classical music philanthropic community take note to shore-up these important pre-professional orchestras like AYS which directly benefit them.”
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of our beloved organization. The Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to dissolve American Youth Symphony,” said Executive Director Isabel Thiroux. “We extend our deepest gratitude to our talented artists, dedicated staff, supportive patrons, and generous donors who have been instrumental in our journey. While this chapter may be closing, we are proud of the legacy we leave behind and the impact we have made in the lives of many.”
Music director Carlos Izcaray said: ‘It is extremely regrettable that an organization of the caliber and history of AYS has to shut down. I am proud of the work that the staff did under incredible pressure, and will remain in awe of the progress our fellows showed throughout the last years. Many of them joined some of the best orchestras in the country, and several others became top studio musicians, composers, administrators, and entrepreneurs in the field.
‘Unfortunately we were not able to secure the funding to pivot to a more sustainable model. Many memories from our programs and projects will remain, such as monumental symphonies by Mahler and Brahms, tone poems by Strauss and Schreker, American canonic works, the introduction to repertoire by composers such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Brian Raphael Nabors, and Jennifer Higdon, Britten’s War Requiem with the National Children’s Choir, our signature Hollywood Project, and many other creative endeavors with our fellows as soloists and involved co-creators. I remain inspired by all of them, and look forward to learning how their careers evolve.’
Sad news. It’s hard not to wonder whether the generosity of the Negaunee Foundation (see link below) would not have delivered significantly greater benefits to classical music in the USA if it had been offered to the ATS instead of the CSO.
https://slippedisc.com/2024/03/chicago-scores-21-million-gift/
AYS, not ATS, sorry.
Where does the AYS fit in, in the musical ecosystem of the US?
I never had the impression that the AYS was a necessary, or even desired, step in (major orchestra) musicians’ training development…
Sure, it plays Carnegie Hall, but so do a lot of high school and college orchestras that rent it out, and it gets occasional coverage from the NYT with big name conductors and soloists, but I’ve never seen a bio that touts membership in the AYS….
I played in Debut Orchestra (the other big LA youth orchestra at the time) as a high school student. It was really my first significant orchestra experience, mixing it up with mostly college players. I wouldn’t say it was the cornerstone of my training, but it was a valuable stepping stone in my haphazard progression as a musician. There’s not much similar outside of NYC.
It’s surprising to me that a venerable youth organization had problems with funding, it seems like everyone wants to support groups like this. Unfortunate.
If you have “never seen a bio that touts membership in the AYS”, it only means that you have not seen many relevant bios.
You are unfortunately uniformed about the AYS—there are alumni that were grounded there, and many are/were peppered throughout the country in major orchestras. The level of music-making was at a very high level, which attracted wonderful soloists.
In 1977 the AYS was invited to Wolf Trap to participate in the Festival of Youth Orchestras, and was only one of five in the entire nation to receive that honor.
Organizations such as the New World Symphony are tremendous present-day vehicles for orchestral development. Long before the NWS was birthed, however, the AYS and the YMF Debut Orchestra were fulfilling that role quite nicely in California.
BTW, this message is coming from a former principal violist of the AYS. I can say with certainty that, had I not had the training I did under Mehli Mehta, I would not have been successful in the orchestral world.
As unfortunate as this is, I truly hope that all these orchestra closings across the US (go see what’s happening to the Hutchinson Symphony) and the world, serve as a wake up call for these organizations that refuse to adapt to the audiences of today’s world. Orchestras are already dying a slow death because all they do is pander to their also (old), dying donor base of old, white people.
Oldish white person here.
I’d love to see some pandering come my way, but lately it seems that the fashion is promoting anything non-white.
Oddly, this is not proving to be a winning solution to funding issues.
Lots of heavy emphasis on female, or minority, or gay composers at the expense of straight white composers. Music shouldn’t be divided up this way.
Alex, do take your anti-anxiety meds today. Then make sure you define your pronouns before making a charity visit to the ghetto, where everyone loves Mozart.
Every kind of art music has value, whether its has a long history or a shorter history. Are you saying that the traditional (“old” as you would say) forms of Japanese music have no value anymore? Or Indian classical music which has stayed the same throughout the centuries? What about the traditional music of Indonesia? All of these take decades for a musician to master. Are you saying that these musics have no value? Or maybe you think that only classical music of the Western world must disappear. Is that what you are saying?
There is nothing wrong with newer music in my opinion as long as it’s allowed to grow organically. However so much of it isn’t. It’s being controlled by those “old white men” you talk about, some of whom are weaponising some of this music to destroy black culture for example.
Regardless of what music you prefer I don’t think any musician or composer should feel like they have to “adapt” to anything other than what is organically and sincerely created. For someone to say that a form of music isn’t valuable based simply on when it was created makes no sense. Moreover, for someone to say a form of music isn’t valuable because of what part of the world it originates from is racism, pure and simple.
Who is “weaponising” new classical music to “destroy black culture”? And how? I do not follow this absurd statement.
Dude, saying that everything has the same value (as we do today) means that nothing has value. You cannot develop a criteria based on such nonsense. There isn’t a musical culture that has produced anything near Beethoven or Mozart (and sorry, the so called Black Mozart Chevallier is nothing but a woke construct, his music is utterly value-less, and that’s the reason why it was forgotten). We must appreciate and honor every culture’s achievements, but NO, musical cultures are not of the same value. As Saul Bellow rightfully said: “When the Zulus produce a Tolstoy, we will read them”. The West has to regain its pride as a culture and forget all this woke nonsense. Eventually it will. Call me a racist as much as you want. The word has lost any real meaning.
Very sad, indeed.
For those of you who don’t know: the AYS is based in Los Angeles (actually, a suburb El Segundo). It was founded by Zubin Mehta’s father who ran it for over 30 years.
Yes, it costs money to run the organization; but there’s a LOT of money in the LA area. There is vast wealth to support the LA Philharmonic and the LA Opera. There are countless billionaires and millionaires from industry, pro-sport, Hollywood. Money everywhere. Except for worthy, important organizations like the AYS. Very sad day for classical music in Los Angeles, California and America: many players in our orchestras got a start in AYS.
This is the youth orchestra led for a long time by Zubin Mehta’s father? Were they done in part by YOLA? You want to think LA is big enough for two youth orchestras.
Yes, it was led by Mehli Mehta for several decades. No, AYS was never competing with YOLA because the latter is geared mainly for middle and high school students while the former was always for college age musicians.
That’s been the fate of several orchs. in LA. When I was in high school, in the 50s, I played in the Peter Marinbloom Jr. Symphony. That kind of experience is nearly gone. There were also concert bands that played symphonic repetoire. Also gone.
I’m surprised Zubin Mehta would not have stepped in and found some deep pockets to allow his father’s orchestra to survive.
Tragic loss of U S’ music community, closure of American Youth Symphony. Is this the end of our nation’s support of orchestras, opera, and other venues that perform music that Bach and sons introduced via church organ, small ensembles and developed toward the creation of larger scale music, as often as not, with and by young performers through the Baroque and into the Classical period the Beethoven reached a summit in his last works. Hector Berlioz launched a work of profound program and unique sounds that introduced a moment in music as literature was embracing women and their ideas, spinning out the Romantic Age. And, so on into the 20th Century. Orchestras had become established in Europe, America and youth was realized as the source of new ideas. Here we are, dumping all the development and creativity. A wayward future?
I played in Mehli Mehta’s orchestra when I was a student. This is a sad situation. Sorry to hear this.
“Watch my left hand, you idiots!” To me, there has never, ever been a leader that communicates and gets the results that Mehli Mehta delivered. I feel fortunate that I had the experience of being his student as well. So sad. I believe it will recover some day.
I win the principal flute post with this orchestra decades ago. Not only was the musical experience life changing, but it was my first opportunity to travel to Europe. One of my most memories was Berlin and seeing the wall and Checkpoint Charlie. Never did I think it would come down in my lifetime.
Mehli Mehta’s band. I saw a lot of good concerts there at Royce Hall when I was at UCLA. There was no support for them?
The problem in U.S.A. is there are too many orchestras and opera companies per miniscule capita of classical music consumers. The old money donations can only go so far if the new money tech billionaires aren’t interested in the arts.