The Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) is one most prestigious and innovative training organisations for young, pre-professional musicians in the world – from gifted secondary school students to those on the verge of a professional career.
If you aspire to follow in the footsteps of former AYO participant Diana Doherty (who stepped down as the Principal Oboe with Sydney Symphony in 2024 after a 27-year stint), then the AYO’s specialised training pathways – designed to nurture the musical development of gifted young instrumentalists – may already be in your sights.
Another drawcard for potential AYO applicants is the Australian Youth Orchestra itself. The 2025 Orchestra is about to embark on a six-city European tour, a once in a lifetime experience for its young musicians, including performances at such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
“Places in our flagship orchestra are extremely competitive, so naturally you will see an older age group getting into the orchestra,” explains AYO CEO Kimbali Harding.
Naturally, potential applicants tend to be first and foremost focused on their instrumental ability, but that’s not the AYO’s sole criterion.
“They are the best young musicians in Australia… so they are already highly skilled, highly developed instrumentalists, but … we are looking for people who are curious. People who are inspired and energised by working with other like-minded young people and who have something to say through their music,” Harding tells ArtsHub.
“They’re keen to learn. They’re keen to be with other young people who get what music is about, and who really get excited by playing live music of exceptional quality, but also by learning and being curious about different perspectives – and I must also acknowledge that it’s very rare that people get into the AYO on their first attempt. Sometimes it takes two or three times, but you learn from the audition process each time you undertake it.”
Studying at the AYO is “quite intensive”, given the residential nature of the training, Harding continues. Consequently, while gifted students as young as 12 have been admitted to the AYO in the past – “Because sometimes you have extraordinary individuals who are just ready for it, and who are we to put an age obstacle in their way?” – the majority of entrants tend to be in their later teens to their early to mid-20s.
Another stumbling block the AYO has removed is financial access for gifted young musicians from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, for whom application fees are now waived.
“We do our darndest to make sure that we remove as much as possible any of those barriers,” Harding says. “Of course, you still have to be brilliant. You still have to be excellent at what you do to get into the AYO. But if finance is an issue or having geographical barriers means that you can’t give it a go, we will do everything we can to remove those barriers – and so one of the things that we’ve done is take out the application fees for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island candidates.”
Nor are the AYO’s courses restricted to musicians alone. “The AYO is more than an orchestra. We have programs for composers, programs for orchestral managers and arts administrators, and there are also programs for media and communications – the people who talk about music, who tell the stories and the narratives, who are really important and vital to our sector,” Harding explains.
“And when you look at our stats, it’s quite extraordinary. Everyone who does the Orchestral Management Course and goes to our National Music Camp, for instance, within a couple of years they’re all working full-time in the industry… It’s a small but mighty cohort, and we’re seeing a lot more of our musicians actually taking on these courses, as well as their purely instrumental programs.”
Applications for the AYO’s 2026 programs are now open. An online information session will be held on Wednesday 18 June for those wishing to know more. Applications close on Monday 25 August, with first round offers announced on Tuesday 14 October.
Visit the Australian Youth Orchestra’s website to learn more about enrolling for 2026.
