National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain - NYO Organization and Past Conductors

NYO Organization and Past Conductors

Ruth Railton (later Dame Ruth King) founded the National Youth Orchestra in 1948. Subsequent NYO directors have included Ivey Dickson (1966–1984), Derek Bourgeois (1984–1993), Jill White (1993–2002), and Jonathan Vaughan (2002–2007). Sarah Alexander was named the NYO's director in 2007 and is now titled Chief Executive & Artistic Director.

Each course is directed by a distinguished conductor. These have included Vladimir Jurowski, Marin Alsop, Jiri Belohlavek, Pierre Boulez, Sir Adrian Boult, Semyon Bychkov, Paul Daniel, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Mark Elder, Ivan Fisher, Antonio Pappano, Hugo Rignold, Andrew Litton, Keith Lockhart, Sir Roger Norrington, Tadaaki Otaka, Geoffrey Paterson, Sir Simon Rattle and Mstislav Rostropovich. In December 2008, the NYO announced the appointment of Vasily Petrenko as its new principal conductor.