NYOS receives Royal welcome

We were delighted to welcome our Royal Patron, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, to the City Halls in Glasgow on Saturday 11 April.

We are honoured that His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh paid a visit to see the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, his first such visit since August 2018 when he attended a NYOS Symphony performance in Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh International Festival.

The Duke enjoyed a full rehearsal of NYOS’ orchestral programme, Dust and Dreams, which comprised Sarah Lianne Lewis’ Creatures of Dust and Dreams, Peter Maxwell Davies’ Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise, and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A London Symphony. The rehearsal was conducted by Grant Llewellyn and featured young bagpiper Hamish Martindale from the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland who performed the climactic pipe solo at the close of Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise.

Following the rehearsal, members from across all sections of the orchestra spoke with His Royal Highness about their musical journeys and the impact they have felt by taking part in Scotland’s national youth orchestra. The Duke also spent time with senior members of the NYOS team and NYOS Trustees, before attending our stakeholder reception.

Since 1 September 1987, His Royal Highness’s patronage of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland (NYOS) has helped to ensure that Scotland’s young musicians receive the best possible support and development opportunities, sustaining past, present and future generations of orchestral musicians for years to come. We are deeply grateful for The Duke’s continued support of NYOS and our work with young musicians across Scotland.