The National Youth Orchestra (NJO), founded in 1957, provides a stage for top young talent between the ages of 18 and 26. This makes it a springboard for conservatory students to a professional career. Throughout the year, the National Youth Orchestra gives concerts, as an orchestra, but also in the form of smaller ensembles composed of NJO members. The highlights of the year are the Muziekzomer Gelderland, a summer festival at the most beautiful locations in Gelderland in the first half of August, and the NJO Winter Tour, in which the full symphony orchestra of the NJO visits various concert halls in the Netherlands in January.
The National Youth Orchestras of the Netherlands (NJON) support the National Youth Orchestra in the areas of orchestra management, auditions, programming, fundraising, enabling participation in pre-professional pathways and exchanges, training & coaching, production, marketing & communication and volunteer coordination.