National Youth Orchestra

The NJO National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands was founded in 1957. It offers young talented musicians between 18 and 27 years old the opportunity to perform orchestral and chamber music at a (pre)professional level. For instance during the Muziekzomer Gelderland - an annual festival involving the most beautiful locations in the province of Gelderland - and during the NJO Winter Tour, when the orchestra travels to the best concert halls in the country.

Read more >>

NJO performs Anna Meredith's HandsFree (photo Veerle Bastiaanssen)

NJO in Het Concertgebouw (photo Sarah Wijzenbeek)

Emma Thompson and Greg Wise x NJO

NJO Symphonic Cinema in TivoliVredenburg (photo Annemieke van der Togt)

During the NJO Winter Tour 2026, the orchestra played two magnificent pieces of classical music with a cinematic twist. The students tackled Richard Wagner's Also Sprach Zarathustra with Antony Hermus and continued to amaze audiences in the Netherlands with their Symphonic Cinema project to Gustav Holst's The Planets. The film LOSS, made especially for this musical masterpiece, starred Emma Thompson and Greg Wise. The award winning actors traveled to the Netherlands and were blown away by the energy of the orchestra. With multiple sold out venues across the country, it's a tour that will stay with us for a long time.

NJO with conductor Antony Hermus, director Lucas van Woerkum and actors Emma Thompson and Greg Wise