Galway Youth Orchestra is the longest established community orchestra in the West of Ireland and is also amongst the longest running orchestras in the country. It has grown and flourished since 1982 and celebrated 25 years of young people playing together in 2007.
The idea of creating an ensemble which would perform under the banner of the Galway Youth Orchestra started with a young Cork graduate, Maire Ni Dhuibhir in Spiddal and developed initially by gathering players from school orchestras in Galway City, Loughrea and Tuam. Very quickly this orchestra developed an identity of its own and since then the G.Y.O. has been shaped and developed by a number of conductors and hundreds of young players.
Founded in 1982 Galway Youth Orchestra has over 140 players who are organised into:
- Junior Strings
- Junior Orchestra
- Intermediate Orchestra
- Senior Orchestra
- Alouette Wind Band
- Galway Youth Jazz Orchestra
G.Y.O. presents at least two public concerts a year. It performs a diverse range of music including symphonies by the great classical composers and works by contemporary, Irish and modern composers.
The orchestra has taken part in festivals and competitions and has collaborated with other orchestras as well as soloists and composers.
G.Y.O. has toured in both France, Czech Republic and Estonia and has hosted concerts in Galway for visiting orchestras and choirs.
We offer ensembles to suit everyone from the beginner to the advanced player. We also have a programme for wind players in our Alouette Band and our newest musical adventure is in the exciting Jazz Orchestra.
Whatever your standard is we invite you to “ Come Play with us”.
Rehearsals for all G.Y.O. ensembles are held on Saturdays in G.T.I.